Why your next enterprise deal will stall at the security questionnaire
There’s a moment every ambitious African startup eventually hits. The product works. The pilot went well. The enterprise client, a bank, an insurer, a multinational, a European buyer is ready to sign. And then their procurement team sends over a security questionnaire, asks for your SOC 2 report or ISO 27001 certificate, and the deal quietly stops moving.
For a growing number of startups in Lagos, Nairobi, Accra, and Cape Town, compliance has stopped being a back-office afterthought. It has become a growth gate, the thing standing between you and the customers, partners, and markets that take you from promising to serious.
Compliance is no longer optional and no longer just about audits
Two forces are pushing this up the priority list for African tech.
