Africa: Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Egypt still attract the vast majority of funding for startups with $1.5 billion in funds secured

In the first quarter of 2022, financing mobilized by African start-ups reached $1.8 billion, i.e. 2.5 times the amount obtained over the same period in 2021. This is indicated by a recent report from the platform. thebigdeal.substack.com

“It’s probably only a matter of days before the $2 billion mark is reached,” comments the platform. In the first seven weeks of 2022, i.e. as of February 18, African start-ups have already accumulated more than $1 billion in funds raised, thanks to more than 130 transactions.

Three mega-transactions of $100 million and more have already been disclosed during this first quarter of 2022. These are the raising of $100 million from the Tunisian start-up InstaDeep, at the end of January, that of $250 million from Nigerian fintech Flutterwave in late February and $105 million from mobility fintech Moove Africa in mid-March.

The “Big Four”, namely: Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Egypt still attract the vast majority of financing with $1.5 billion in funds obtained, i.e. 83% of the total financing raised on the continent. Nigeria leads with $600 million in the first quarter of 2022, followed by Kenya, $482 million, South Africa, $228 million and Egypt, $202 million.

Compared to the first quarter of 2021, Egypt is the best of the “Big Four”. The North African country multiplied by 4.9 the total funds raised at the end of March 2022. It is followed by Kenya and Nigeria which recorded growth in total funds raised, year-on-year. Only South Africa recorded a decrease in total funds raised at the end of March 2022 compared to the end of March 2021.

Looking ahead to December 2022, i.e. at the end of the annual exercise, thebigdeal.substack.com envisages approximately $7.3 billion in funds raised by all start-ups on the continent, provided that fundraising begins in beginning of the year “continue at the same pace throughout the year ».