In March 2026, the United Kingdom authorities published a list of Nigerian companies increasing operations in the UK, together with fintechs Moniepoint, Kuda and LemFi. Their growth displays a rising curiosity amongst African tech companies in the UK as a base for constructing and rising their companies.
A November 2026 report by TLP Advisory, a cross-border enterprise legislation agency, examined 100 expertise companies throughout Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Egypt, Ghana and Morocco which have documented affiliations in the UK, the United States and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The US was the commonest vacation spot, with 67% of the companies affiliated there. The UK adopted at 32%, whereas 23% have been related to the UAE.
The figures recommend that the three locations serve completely different functions in the worldwide constructions of African tech companies. According to the report, the US is the commonest vacation spot for incorporation due to its acquainted company constructions, significantly Delaware-incorporated companies, which make companies simpler to spend money on. 81% of US-connected companies in TLP’s pattern had no different recorded hyperlink to the nation past incorporation.
Meanwhile, the UAE is extra related to companies establishing operational bases, as solely 13% had incorporation as their sole hyperlink. The report exhibits that the UK sits between the two, combining firm registration with operational growth and regulatory licensing, as 84% of UK-connected companies have been included there, 47% maintained an operational presence, and 19% held regulatory licences. By comparability, solely 3% of US-connected companies and 4% of UAE-connected companies in the pattern held regulatory licences.
According to the report, Nigerian companies account for roughly two-thirds of the recognized UK regulatory licensing connections, most of that are monetary companies companies. Understanding why African companies are constructing regulated companies in the UK requires analyzing the capital and regulatory entry they search.
Pressure at residence
TLP’s earlier analysis discovered that over 76% of funded Nigerian startups surveyed had raised capital in US {dollars}. Between September 2023 and September 2024, the naira dropped by 71.19%, whereas inflation rose to nearly 33.9% in October 2024. A Nigerian fintech elevating cash in {dollars} however incomes income in {dollars} faces a foreign money mismatch, as depreciation makes greenback obligations dearer to handle.
Another motive the UK appeals to African fintechs is its established communities with business and monetary ties to the continent. The 2021 UK Census recorded over 270,000 Nigeria-born residents in England and Wales. Nigeria additionally acquired about $22.8 billion in personal remittances from the diaspora in 2025. Businesses with hyperlinks to Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa can draw on related diaspora and business connections. This gives a chance for remittance companies to start operations by serving individuals who repeatedly ship cash residence.
These current monetary relationships can present an preliminary buyer base for remittance or cost companies. A UK presence may permit the firm to construct for prospects on each side of the hall, though to succeed in these customers at scale, it could nonetheless want to determine partnerships and safe regulatory approval, making this one other consideration for companies increasing into the UK.
Image supply: Moniepoint
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK oversees a vary of monetary companies actions by way of a nationwide regulatory framework. In the US, cash transmission is licensed state by state, throughout 49 states and Washington DC. This means being licensed in a single state doesn’t imply they might be licensed in one other. In the UAE, cost companies working on the mainland want authorisation from the Central Bank. Companies working inside monetary free zones comparable to the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) or Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) are regulated individually, and their licences don’t routinely permit them to supply cost companies throughout the UAE.
Capital at each stage
The UK is additionally attempting to place itself as a place the place African companies can entry capital at completely different levels of their development. The UK presents tax incentives designed to encourage funding in qualifying early-stage companies. The Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) present tax aid to traders who again qualifying companies. SEIS covers the first £250,000 a firm raises, for companies with fewer than 25 workers and beneath £350,000 in gross property. EIS takes over for bigger rounds. However, each require a real UK operational presence and exclude banking, money-lending and different monetary actions.
The authorities has launched different initiatives to draw founders and companies, together with the Global Entrepreneur Programme, which helps chosen worldwide entrepreneurs in establishing a UK headquarters or analysis and improvement presence, and the Innovator Founder visa, which is topic to endorsement and eligibility necessities.
According to TLP Advisory, greater than 110 African companies are listed on the London Stock Exchange. Airtel Money’s October 2026 itemizing gives a latest instance of the scale of enterprise that London hopes to draw. The cellular cash firm started buying and selling on the LSE’s Main Market at a valuation of roughly £5.3 billion.
African expertise companies have additionally seemed to US exchanges, with Jumia itemizing in 2019 and OPay’s planned a $304 million Initial Public Offering in New York earlier than withdrawing it in October 2026 following a regulatory inquiry.
London is attempting to make its capital markets extra engaging to rising companies by revising its itemizing guidelines and introducing the PISCES sandbox in 2025. The Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System (PISCES) permits traders to purchase shares in eligible non-public companies and current shareholders to promote theirs at scheduled intervals, with out requiring the firm to go public. These are a part of London’s effort to draw companies at completely different levels of development.
The UAE’s free zones and monetary centres are designed to draw companies in search of a base for regional commerce and operations. Initiatives comparable to Abu Dhabi’s Hub71 provide chosen startups money, topic to programme situations.
The price of staying
The UK’s rising enchantment doesn’t imply each African firm with a British entity is constructing a substantial enterprise there. An working presence requires prospects, workers, licences, native partnerships and sustained spending. Maintaining an abroad entity additionally brings authorized, tax, reporting and compliance prices.
Moniepoint’s UK accounts provide a glimpse of these prices. Its UK subsidiary reported a loss of £1.2 million for 2024, its first 12 months of operation, earlier than producing income in the nation. The firm attributed the spending to establishing the infrastructure, expertise and compliance programs wanted to enter the market.
The UK presents a mixture of diaspora connections, a nationwide monetary regulator, entry to worldwide capital and a mature companies ecosystem for African tech founders. The US stays necessary for enterprise financing and company constructions, whereas the UAE presents a base for companies pursuing alternatives in the Middle East. Each market performs a completely different function as the enterprise expands.
