Nigeria recorded its lowest funding share among Africa’s four largest startup markets in 2025, even as startups across the continent disclosed $3.8 billion in funding, according to Briter’s Africa Investment Report 2025.
The country accounted for just 8% of total disclosed funding, placing it behind South Africa (32%), Kenya (29%) and Egypt (15%). This marks Nigeria’s weakest performance since 2019, signalling a shift in investor capital away from Africa’s most populous population, which also used to be the most dominant startup ecosystem by deal value.
The decline is more striking given that Nigeria still recorded the highest number of deals in 2025, which means there’s still early-stage startup activity, but fewer large, late-stage rounds. Moniepoint’s$90 million Series C extension was one of the few mega deals Nigeria saw.
In contrast, Kenya and South Africa benefited from a concentration of growth-stage capital, while Egypt continued to attract sizeable rounds in capital-intensive sectors.
Briter’s data shows that funding across Africa is becoming structurally more uneven, with growth capital increasingly concentrated in fewer companies and markets.
This trend has disproportionately affected Nigeria, where macroeconomic pressures, currency volatility, and reduced foreign investor exposure over the past few years have dampened large equity investments.
Since 2021, Nigeria’s startup funding has steadily declined in relative share, even as overall deal activity remained high.
Across the continent, fintech and digital financial services remained the most funded sector by value and deal count in 2025, maintaining Nigeria’s historical strength in the category.
However, climate-focused solutions emerged as the fastest-growing sector, raising more than three times their 2024 total, with solar energy leading funding activity. Much of this capital flowed to markets with clearer infrastructure frameworks and more predictable returns, including South Africa and Kenya.
Artificial intelligence also gained attention from investors, though funding was largely concentrated in applied use cases rather than deep research and development. At the same time, fewer than five percent of deals across Africa exceeded $50 million, yet these accounted for half of disclosed funding, highlighting how a small number of large rounds continue to shape market outcomes.
For Nigeria, the shrinking funding share among Africa’s leading markets could be a signal of more early stage startup activity or less startups reaching maturity stage.
