This year’s edition of the world’s most comprehensive and widely-read report on startup ecosystems has listed Cape Town as one of the top 100 emerging start-up ecosystems globally, ranking second in Africa after Cairo.

In a statement on Tuesday touting the report, the Cape Town council’s member of the mayoral committee for economic opportunities and asset management James Vos said the 2020 Global Start-up Ecosystem Report (GSER) comes on the heels of the city being ranked the top start-up city in South Africa by research group StartupBlink.

“Cape Town is recognised as the digitech hub of Africa and a leading location for tech start-ups and venture capital deals,” Vos said.

“The city is also home to almost two-thirds of all start-ups in South Africa. This can be attributed to the many support structures we have put in place to assist entrepreneurs.”

The report says entrepreneurs are drawn to Cape Town for its idyllic lifestyle, diverse communities, access to start-up capital and top tertiary institutions, among other attractions.

The city boasts good infrastructure, sound governance and four of the top universities in Africa, providing a skilled workforce.

The 2020 GSER has nearly doubled the number of ecosystems studied compared with 2019, assessing over 270 across over 100 countries.

The report showed that start-up culture and entrepreneurship have spread across the world, and different ecosystems have gained relevance.

Europe leads in terms of constituents in the emerging ecosystems list with 38 start-up ecosystems, eight of which were from Eastern Europe. North America had 32 start-up ecosystems while the Asia-Pacific region was third with 22 ecosystems.

Source: ANA