Nigeria leads Africa’s startup funding with $635 million investment

Nigeria has reclaimed its position as Africa’s leading destination for startup funding in the first nine months of 2026 with $635 million.

According to Nairametric, the figure is more than double the amount recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.

Data from Africa: The Big Deal, an African startup funding tracker, showed Nigerian startups raised 2.6 times the $247 million secured between January and September last year, marking the country’s strongest performance over the period since 2022.

Nigeria’s funding rebound came amid a sharp slowdown in other major African startup markets, including Kenya and South Africa, as well as a significant shift in investment towards logistics and transport ventures.

The country also recorded the highest number of startups raising at least $100,000 with 77 ventures securing funding during the period, up 10% from 70 in the first nine months of 2025.

Excluding pan-African ventures, Nigeria accounted for 37% of startup funding raised by country-specific ventures across the continent, its highest share since 2021.

A handful of large transactions contributed significantly to Nigeria’s return to the top of the African startup funding rankings.

Moove, the mobility financing company, which earlier this month announced plans to exit Nigeria, raised $250 million, while fintech company Flutterwave secured $100 million.

E-commerce platform Jumia raised $50 million, and cryptocurrency infrastructure company Yellow Card attracted $40 million.

Together, the four companies accounted for $440 million, or about 69% of Nigeria’s $635 million in startup funding during the period.

However, Nigeria’s performance extended beyond these large transactions, with the country recording more startups raising at least $100,000 than any other African market.

Nigeria’s resurgence contrasted with weaker performances in two other major African startup markets.

Egypt remained relatively stable, attracting $445 million in startup funding, an increase of 10% from the corresponding period of 2025.

Kenya raised $201 million, down 73% year-on-year, while South Africa secured $182 million, representing a 58% decline.

Kenya’s figures were partly affected by the classification of Spiro, which operates extensively in the country but is now categorised as a pan-African venture in the report’s database.

Despite this adjustment, Kenya’s fundraising remained significantly below its 2025 level.

The number of startups raising at least $100,000 also declined across the three markets. Kenya recorded 45 ventures, down 32% year-on-year, while Egypt had 40, a 29% decline. South Africa recorded 34, down 36%.

The counts for Kenya and South Africa were their lowest for the first nine months of a year since Africa: The Big Deal began tracking deals of at least $100,000 in 2021.

Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya and South Africa continued to dominate African startup financing, accounting for 85% of funding raised by country-specific startups, excluding pan-African ventures. This was up from 83% in the same period of 2025.