Africa’s four largest start-up markets attracted about $2.6 billion in funding in 2025, accounting for 82% of all capital raised on the continent, according to a year-end review of investment flows by Africa: The Big Deal, a platform that tracks startup ecosystem activities on the continent.
The so-called Big Four of Kenya, Egypt, South Africa and Nigeria have dominated African start-up funding since 2019.
According to the latest report, their collective share in 2025 was unchanged from recent years, remaining within the long-running range of 80% to 86%, despite representing about 30% of Africa’s population and roughly 40% of nominal GDP.
Kenya led the continent, raising close to $1billion, almost a third of Africa’s total start-up funding for the year.
Investment in the country rose by 52% year on year, driven largely by large debt and equity rounds in the energy and off-grid power space. Debt made up about 60% of the total, while equity funding nearly doubled from 2024.
Egypt ranked second with $614 million, equivalent to 20% of the continental total. Funding grew by 51% year on year, split broadly evenly between equity and debt, and positioning the country as Africa’s second-largest destination for debt funding.
Similarly, South Africa attracted $600 million to secure third place, also up 51% year on year. More than 90% of the capital was raised as equity, making it the continent’s largest equity market in 2025. The country also recorded a sharp increase in the number of ventures raising at least $100,000.
Nigeria trailed the other three with $343 million capital raise, albeit emerging as the only Big Four market to post a year-on-year decline, with funding down 17% and its share of Africa’s total slipping to 11%, the lowest level recorded since tracking began in 2019, according to the latest report.
Equity funding, which accounted for more than four-fifths of the total, fell by 22%. Despite this, Nigeria still hosted the highest number of start-ups raising at least $100,000 during the year.
Beyond the Big Four, only two other markets crossed the $100 million threshold. Senegal climbed to fifth place with $157 million, largely on the back of a single large debt round, while Benin recorded $100 million, almost entirely from one transaction.
A wider group of countries across North, West and East Africa attracted between $10 million and $100 million, underscoring a gradually broadening investment footprint.
At a regional level, Eastern Africa led by value with 34% of total funding, followed by Western Africa at 24%, Northern Africa at 23% and Southern Africa at 19%. While the concentration of capital remains pronounced, the data suggest increasing activity outside the traditional centres, particularly for smaller and mid-sized deals.
