In 2019, Senegalese startups captured the lion’s share of equity investment in Francophone Africa’s tech companies. According to a report by venture capital fund Partech Africa, they attracted a total of $16 million.

However, this figure is down 27.2% ($6 million) compared to the $22 million Senegal raised in 2018. Overall on the continent, Nigerian startups were atop the list, attracting a record $747 million in 2019. In 2018, they were the second with only $306 million collected, behind Kenya.

Over the period reviewed, Egypt entered the top 3 ranking outperforming South Africa. In 2018, three countries (Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa) had received 78% of the total investments granted to African startups and last year 85% of the money was drawn by Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, and South Africa.

Overall, 234 African start-ups raised a total of $2.02 billion in 2019, an increase by 74% YoY. A year earlier, Partech Africa had identified 146 African start-ups that had raised $1.1 billion.

Chamberline Moko