In the first quarter of 2022, African startups raised US$1.8 billion, 2.5 times the amount raised over the same period in 2021. The figure is reported in a recent newsletter by the Big Deal. 

According to the newsletter, it is just a matter of days before they pass the mark of US$2 billion raised. Indeed, in the first seven weeks of 2022, as of February 18, African startups had already secured over US$1 billion with 130 deals. 

In the first quarter, three mega-deals worth US$100 million or more were disclosed. These include Tunisian startup InstaDeep's US$100 million (raised in late January), Nigerian fintech Flutterwave's US$250 million (raised in late February), and mobility fintech Moove Africa's US$105 million (raised in mid-March).

During the period, US$1.5 billion, or 83% of the funds raised were secured by Nigerian, Kenyan, South African, and Egyptian startups. Nigeria leads the ‘Big Four’ with US$600 million. It is followed by Kenya (US$482 million), South Africa (US$228 million), and Egypt (US$202 million).

Year on year, Egypt has been the best-performing country. The volume of funds raised by its startups rose 4.9 folds between the two periods. Kenya came next, followed by Nigeria. On the other hand, the least performing country was South Africa. 

Based on developments in the African startup ecosystem, The Big Deal expects the overall volume of funds secured by startups on the continent to reach US$7.3 billion by the end of December 2022, provided the dynamic that started at the beginning of the year continues. 

Chamberline Moko