Tizeti, an internet service provider backed by Y Combinator and operating in Nigeria, Togo, and Ivory Coast, is set to list on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) two years after announcing its intentions to go public. The Initial Public Offering (IPO) will enable Tizeti to attract investment from a broader range of investors, especially at a time when venture capital activity is subdued, and it will provide early investors with exit opportunities.
Raising capital in naira will help the eleven-year-old company mitigate the pressures of delivering venture capital-level returns, a challenging task given the naira’s devaluation and the slowing economy.
Temitope Osunderin, Vice President for Marketing at Tizeti Networks, while not providing a specific timeline for the IPO, stated;
We have started that journey but are focused now on the launch of our fiber broadband service. We will share more information on the IPO shortly.
The IPO will be a significant boost for the NGX, which has struggled to attract Nigerian startups to list on its exchange. African startups often prefer to list on foreign exchanges like the NYSE, but many have faced challenges in those markets. For instance, after e-commerce giant Jumia launched its IPO in 2019, its shares initially traded at around $14.50 before dropping significantly. Today, Jumia’s shares trade at $4.64, with a market capitalization of $469 million, down from nearly $2 billion at its peak. Similarly, NASDAQ-listed Swvl Holding saw its share price plummet from around $247 per share in 2021 to $6.34 in 2024.
Given the mixed success of foreign listings for African startups, industry experts like Iyin Aboyeji suggest that startups should consider listing on the NGX once they achieve $1 million or more in annual recurring revenue (ARR). “They need to think carefully about why they need to raise a Series A and from whom. Raising a Series A from a fund that can’t fund you to a global IPO scale is a fool’s errand,” Aboyeji commented in response to Tizeti’s announcement on LinkedIn.
Founded in 2013 by Kendall Ananyi and Ifeanyi Okonkwo, Tizeti aims to make the internet more affordable and accessible in West Africa. The company reported $1.2 million in revenue from 3,000 subscribers in 2018. Supported by Y Combinator, 4DX, and Ventures Platform, Tizeti has raised $7.4 million in two funding rounds since its inception.
In 2014, Tizeti distinguished itself by offering unlimited, uncapped internet at affordable prices, leveraging undersea cables from providers like MainOne and solar-powered towers. The company believes its solution is superior to satellite-based internet providers like Starlink, which are more expensive and prone to congestion.
Tizeti’s offerings include subscription-based unlimited internet access for homes and businesses in Nigeria and Ghana, co-branded Wi-Fi hotspots with Facebook in high-traffic areas, Voice over IP (VoIP) services, and the recently launched FREEFIBER.AFRICA, a subscription service providing a US IP address, phone number, debit card, and mailing address for $10/month. Tizeti’s network currently delivers over 180 terabytes (TB) of data daily, with a total of 35,219 TB expected by December 2023.
