Where the Capital is Really Flowing in African Startup Funding 2025

 

West and North Africa, once the center of gravity for venture activity, are losing ground as the momentum in African startup funding 2025 shifts toward East and Southern Africa. The regional share of funding (value) and share of deals from 2021 to 2025 shows a clear rebalancing: East and Southern Africa have expanded their slice of the pie, while West and North Africa’s shares have narrowed.

Egypt: The Anchor of North African Startup Funding 2025

Egypt continues to anchor North Africa’s ecosystem, helping to hold the region’s baseline. Yet the overall share of funding attributed to North Africa has contracted compared with earlier years in the 2021–2025 window. The same directional pattern appears in share of deals, suggesting that the shift is not just about a few large rounds elsewhere but about breadth of activity moving south and east.

West Africa’s recalibration

West Africa, long propelled by Nigeria’s scale and headline rounds, is also feeling the squeeze. Its share of funding and share of deals have edged down as investors have diversified across the continent. Rather than signaling weakness, this looks like a recalibration: a move toward more distributed pipelines and cross-border syndication, with early-stage founders in Ghana, Senegal, and Côte d’Ivoire still well placed to compete for attention as the cycle evolves.

East Africa surges ahead in African Startup Funding 2025

East Africa has emerged as the top region on share of funding in 2025, with share of deals also reflecting deeper market activity. Kenya remains the magnet, supported by a maturing innovation stack and investor familiarity with local execution. Crucially, the region’s rise shows up on both panels of the infobyte—value and deals—indicating that it is winning not only bigger checks but also more of them.

Southern Africa’s strategic comeback

Southern Africa’s trajectory has turned upward across the 2021–2025 period as the region’s share of funding expands and share of deals keeps pace. South Africa remains the anchor, but the broader ecosystem benefits from stronger operating discipline, clearer regulatory pathways, and the ability to scale regionally—features that investors reward in a more selective market.

The bigger picture

The African startup funding 2025 story is one of transition. Capital is concentrating where policy support, operating depth, and scalability are most visible, and that currently favors the East/South corridor. For West and North Africa, this moment is both a challenge and an opportunity: a chance to double down on earlier-stage density, local problem-solving, and regional partnerships that can convert today’s thinner shares into tomorrow’s growth.