Startups in Nigeria raised $343 million in 2025, marking a challenging year for the country despite stronger venture funding activity across Africa. The figures were released by Africa the Big Deal, an African venture funding analytics company, which reported that while funding improved on the continent overall, Nigeria struggled to keep pace with its peers in the leading tech markets.
According to the data, the Big 4 tech ecosystems in Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt and South Africa, accounted for 82 per cent of the total venture funding attracted by African startups in 2025. In total, startups across the continent raised $3.2 billion during the year, reflecting renewed investor activity after earlier slowdowns.
Nigeria’s $343 million haul represents a 16.3 per cent decline from the $410 million raised in 2024. It also means the country accounted for only 10.7 per cent of total African venture funding in 2025. This was a sharp drop from the previous year, when Nigeria contributed 18.6 per cent of the $2.2 billion raised across the continent.
The 2025 performance placed Nigeria as the weakest contributor among the Big Four markets. While Kenya, Egypt and South Africa all recorded strong year on year growth, Nigeria stood out as the only country in the group to post a decline in funding and a reduced share of total continental investment.
“This is the lowest share we have ever recorded for Nigeria since we started tracking the numbers back in 2019. In fact, no Big Four market dipped so low in terms of its share of overall funding since 2020. Equity – which represented 83% of the total raised in the country – dropped -22% YoY,” the report noted.
Nigeria’s slowdown is also evident when viewed against developments in other West African markets. Outside the Big Four, Senegal and Benin emerged as the next strongest destinations for startup funding in the region. Startups in Senegal raised $157 million in 2025, while Benin recorded $100 million in startup investments.
The country also recorded a decline in early stage activity. Nigeria witnessed a 14 per cent drop in the number of ventures that raised $100,000 or more during the year. Despite this fall, Nigeria still led the continent in this category, with 86 startups crossing the $100,000 funding mark, pointing to continued investor interest at the early stage.
In contrast, Kenya strengthened its position as Africa’s leading startup funding destination for the third consecutive year. Startups in the East African country raised $984 million in 2025, representing a 54.2 per cent increase from the $638 million raised in 2024. This figure accounted for nearly a third of all venture funding on the continent, at 30.7 per cent.
A large share of Kenya’s funding came through debt. Of the total amount raised, $582 million, or 59.1 per cent, was debt financing. Equity funding also showed strong growth, with $383 million raised during the year, nearly double the amount recorded in 2024, signalling a return of investor confidence.
Much of Kenya’s total was driven by large funding rounds secured by established energy companies such as d.light, Sun King, M-Kopa, Burn and PowerGen. However, early stage funding activity weakened, as only 75 startups raised $100,000 or more in 2025. This represented a 22 per cent decline and was the lowest figure among the Big Four markets.
Egypt moved into second place in 2025, overtaking Nigeria after narrowly missing the position in 2024. Startups in the North African country raised $614 million during the year, a 53.5 per cent increase from the $400 million attracted in 2024. This gave Egypt a 20 per cent share of Africa’s total venture funding.
About half of the funding raised by Egyptian startups came from equity investments. The country also attracted $278 million through debt, making it the second largest market for debt funding on the continent, accounting for 24 per cent of Africa’s total. In addition, 61 startups in Egypt raised $100,000 or more during the year.
South Africa also recorded a strong rebound in 2025, climbing to third place from fourth in the previous year. Startups in the country raised $600 million, representing a 52.3 per cent increase from the $394 million raised in 2024. This amount accounted for 18.7 per cent of total venture funding on the continent.
More than 90 per cent of the funding raised by South African startups, or $545 million, came in the form of equity. This made South Africa the largest equity funding market in Africa, with 29 per cent of the continent’s total. A total of 83 startups also raised $100,000 or more, second only to Nigeria.
