A record of over $4 billion has been raised by tech startups operating in Africa, massively increasing the $1.1 billion that was invested in the continent in 2020.
In addition to Jumia, Interswitch, Flutterwave, and Andela, Africa is now home to three more unicorns: Wave, OPay, and Chipper Cash.
Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, and Kenya raised 80% of Africa’s total capital, with Nigeria alone accounting for 35% of that amount.
Senegal and Tanzania were two more markets that were active.
Despite Fintech’s dominance in overall investment, cleantech, which includes renewable energy and energy efficiency, is gaining ground, with healthcare, data and IT infrastructure, and agriculture following suit.
- Nigerian – $1.37bn
- South Africa – $838m
- Egypt – $588m
- Kenya – $375m
- Senegal – $222m
- Tanzania – $96m
- Ghana – $48m
- Algeria – $30m
- Morocco – $29m
- Tunisia – $23m
- Uganda – $18m
- Rwanda – $16m
- DRC – $12m
- Cameroon – $11m
Also read: Top renewable energy projects launched in Africa in 2021
Some of the most well-funded African tech startups in 2021 include the following:
- Opay $400 million – (Pan African)
- Wave $200 million – ( Senegal)
- Andela $200 million (Pan African)
- Go1 $200 million (South Africa)
- Tymebank US$180million (South Africa)
- Flutterwave $170 million (Nigeria)
- Chipper Cash $150m – (Pan African)
- Tala $145 million (Kenya)
- JUMO $120 million (South Africa)
- MNT-Halan US$120 million (Egypt)
- TradeDepot $110 million (Nigeria)
- MFS Africa $100 million (Pan African)
The startup sector in Africa is only expected to grow in the future, based on current trends. It is expected that in 2022 there will be more funding rounds to be completed.
