17th March 2023
The SVB Collapse – How Does it Affect the Nigerian Market
In March 2023, the 16th largest bank in the United States by deposits and the go-to bank for Silicon Valley venture capital-backed tech companies, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), became the 2nd largest bank to fail in U.S. history.
The cliché goes that when the U.S. economy sneezes, the world catches a cold and with SVB providing financial services, and in some cases funding, to several African tech start-ups, it is inevitable that this particular U.S. bank failure will be felt in Africa, and specifically in Nigeria, home of the African tech giants.
In this client alert, Partner Zelda Akindele and Associate Victor Sameria discuss SVB’s takeover by the regulators, the impact on liquidity within the global tech ecosystem and the far-reaching implications for the Nigerian tech space.
