December has been a busy month for tech in Nigeria and across Africa. There have been new investments, major infrastructure updates, and notable innovations as 2025 comes to an end.
Startups are attracting more funding, digital infrastructure is growing, and recent tech developments show strong momentum in Nigeria’s tech sector.
This is a quick look at key tech news updates worth knowing as the year wraps up.
Funding and Investment: Africa’s Tech Funding Picks Up Again
African startups raised about $441.9 million from 59 deals in October 2025 alone. This is a 217% jump from the $139.4 million recorded in September.
Between January and October 2025, startups across the continent secured a total of $2.65 billion, up 56% from the $1.7 billion raised in the same period in 2024.
Around 76% of the October funding came as equity, meaning investors are buying ownership stakes again rather than offering short-term loans.
Unlike the hype-driven boom of 2021–2022, funding is now going to startups with clear business models, real revenue, and practical, infrastructure-focused solutions.
Nigeria is one of the top beneficiaries. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, Nigerian startups raised over $100 million, with fintech leading the way. LemFi, a cross-border payments company, raised $53 million to expand into Europe and Asia.
Moniepoint also secured an additional $90 million in Series C funding this year, keeping its position as one of Africa’s largest fintech players.
As the year ends, many analysts expect investment activity to improve further in 2026 based on this year’s trends.
Beyond fintech, sectors such as clean energy, logistics, and health tech are also attracting steady funding. This shows investors are backing solutions that address Africa’s core challenges, including power, transport, payments, and connectivity.
Growing Infrastructure: Nigeria’s Digital Backbone Gets Stronger
While funding usually gets the headlines, infrastructure goes in another direction. Nigeria’s data centre capacity is expected to grow from the current 65–86 MW to over 400 MW in the next three to five years, according to recent reports. That is almost a six-fold increase and could change Nigeria’s role in West Africa’s digital economy.
The impact could be far-reaching. A $10 million data centre can generate about $17 million in economic output during construction and more than $39 million by its tenth year of operation. Beyond direct returns, increased capacity allows businesses to host data locally. This reduces costs, improves speed, and supports services such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and real-time data processing.
Telecom companies are already investing heavily. MTN Nigeria has begun work on a 150 MW data centre, while Airtel is building a 38 MW Nxtra Data Centre in Eko Atlantic.
Other firms are also entering the space, increasing competition and capacity. These projects place Nigeria as a serious alternative to European data centres, many of which are facing capacity pressure.
For Nigerian startups, this transition could be transformational. Stronger infrastructure supports the growth of SaaS platforms, fintech, AI, and health tech, all of which depend on fast and reliable data access.
It also helps reduce the long-standing problem of high cloud costs, often priced in dollars, which eat into local companies’ margins.
Nigeria’s National ID Transition: A Big Move with Real Risks
Alongside infrastructure growth, Nigeria is undergoing one of its largest technology transitions. The country is moving its National Identity Management System to an open-source platform known as MOSIP. The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) began this migration in July 2025 under an $83 million contract.
By October 2025, around 124 million National Identification Numbers had been issued. Migrating data of this scale, including biometric information, is one of the most sensitive tasks in digital government. Errors could disrupt access to banking, telecom services, and other systems that rely on NIN verification.
The transition has happened quietly. The old NIMC portal is no longer active, and its app has been removed from app stores.
This followed the launch of a new platform called NINAuth, but with limited public explanation. Banks, telecom operators, and fintech companies that depend on the old system are still unclear about integration timelines and requirements.
When a system this important is changing, poor communication creates uncertainty. Digital systems need stability, and institutions need clear guidance to adjust.
At the moment, Nigeria’s ID system sits in an unclear transition phase. Whether the change proves successful or disruptive depends largely on information that has yet to be shared.
Conclusion
The tech sector in Nigeria is not returning to the hype-driven peaks of 2021–2022, and that may be a positive shift. Instead, the focus is on building solid foundations through disciplined funding, improved infrastructure, and solutions to real problems.
The return of strong funding shows that investors still believe in African tech, but expectations are higher. At the same time, growing infrastructure, especially data centres, signals that Nigeria is preparing for a future where digital services are hosted locally, faster, and more reliably.
However, there are still challenges. The national ID transition carries real risks. Power supply issues continue to raise operating costs. Currency instability still makes long-term planning difficult. Even so, the direction is clear. Nigeria is investing in infrastructure, attracting capital, and building the support systems needed to compete across Africa and beyond.
The next phase is not about how much money is raised, but how effectively it is used, and whether today’s infrastructure can support tomorrow’s innovations.
