Local listing dreams fades, as 46% of tech founders desire M&A exits

Nearly 46% of Nigerian tech founders plan to exit their businesses via acquisition within four to six years, signalling a stark preference for mergers and acquisitions over a local Initial Public Offering.

The finding, from a 2025 TLP Advisory report, quantifies the deep aversion founders have to listing on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), even after the bourse created a specialised tech board and relaxed its listing requirements to woo the ecosystem.

The TLP report, which surveyed 36 founders, confirms the NGX’s push has so far failed to gain traction. “The primary issue is structural inhibitors tied to the current listing requirements,” said Adekunle Awojobi, former CEO of First Trustees. “They are simply too tough for most startups to meet, particularly around turnover and profitability.”

While profitability hurdles and currency volatility are key factors, the aversion is also cultural. The “one-man mopol” syndrome—a desire to maintain absolute control—and a deep-seated fear of public scrutiny have made an IPO a non-starter for most.

This resistance was crystallised in a 2023 meeting where NGX Group CEO Temi Popoola and Nigeria’s tech minister, Bosun Tijani, lobbied Flutterwave CEO Olugbenga Agboola for a local listing. The plea, made to the $3 billion unicorn, reportedly fell on deaf ears. Two years later, Agboola has tied any listing to profitability and is instead seeking a $75 million government investment for separate expansion plans.

The failure to land Flutterwave, or any of its unicorn peers like OPay, Interswitch, and Moniepoint, underscores the disconnect. Founders remain opposed to the scrutiny that public markets demand, even as it offers a pathway to raising massive capital and strengthening governance.

Funkola Odeleye, Co-founder of TLP Advisory, said the responsibility is shared. “All the players… have a share of the responsibility here, from founders who mainly raise in USD and have therefore added another layer of complexity to listing in NGN, to investors who consider secondary sale and M&As as their only path to exit,” Odeleye said. “But most of the buck stops with NGX in terms of awareness.”

Despite the continued hesitancy, Legend Internet Plc, a last-mile fibre-to-the-home provider, successfully listed on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) in April 2025, outlining plans to raise ₦150 billion ($92.72 million) in debt and equity.

The company’s listing marked the first for an indigenous broadband provider on the Nigerian bourse, positioning it ahead of competitors like Y Combinator-backed Tizeti, which indicated futuristic IPO ambitions in December 2024. It was also one of the first tech companies to list on the NGX in 2025.