The African tech ecosystem’s first-half (H1) funding landscape has revealed a dramatically reshaped power structure, characterised by a resurgence in Nigerian equity deals, Egyptian dominance in overall capital flow and a sharp pullback across traditional venture strongholds.
While total funding figures pointed to a resilient market on the surface, beneath the numbers lie mega-deal distortions, stark geographic drops and a tightening squeeze on early-stage startups.
Africa: The Big Deal, in its latest survey, said headline figures showed Egypt taking the top spot for overall capital raised in H1 2026 at $327 million (representing a record 27 per cent of all continental funding). Nigeria followed in second with $254 million, while Kenya ($126 million) and South Africa ($83 million) trailed significantly behind.
However, strip away debt financing and the picture changes dramatically. Nigeria led the continent in pure equity investment, securing $214 million. Its overall capital surpassed the $250 million threshold for the first time since 2022, displaying a remarkably steady baseline.
According to the report, electric mobility startup, Spiro, headquartered in Benin but operating heavily in Kenya, single-handedly altered the regional narrative, raising $327 million ($270 million equity plus $57 million debt), matching Egypt’s entire receipts. Adjusting for Spiro’s operations provides crucial context to Kenya’s apparent decline.
Further, the report noticed the Big Four’s shrinking grip. According to it, together, the “Big Four” (Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, South Africa) captured 58 per cent of total funding, a lower share than historical norms driven partly by mega-deals elsewhere.
Beyond the top tier, Tanzania, Côte d’Ivoire, and Morocco each cleared the $25 million threshold in total H1 funding. When measuring market activity by transaction volume (startups raising $100k+ excluding grants), Nigeria led the pack. The country rebounded strongly from a muted H2 2025. It accounted for the highest number of funded ventures.
Morocco, Tanzania, and Ghana joined the Big Four in reaching double-digit deal counts (deals over $100k). However, Ghana severely underperformed in dollar value, landing at number 11 overall.
The Big Four generated 110 out of the 190 total deals continent-wide. There was, however, a steep decline in Kenya and South Africa, while Egypt and Nigeria demonstrated consistency; the rest of the Big Four experienced steep downturns compared to recent halves.
For instance, following a blockbuster H2 2025, Kenya collapsed to its lowest semi-annual funding total since early 2021, posting just $46 million in equity. South Africa, which topped continental charts just a year ago, failed to hit the $100 million mark in total capital, generating a modest $83 million ($66 million equity).
In terms of capital squeeze at the seed level, Africa: The Big Deal noted that the H1 numbers highlighted a growing structural issue across African venture capital. It noted that while large, mature ventures continue to pull in significant checks, both half-on-half (HoH) and year-on-year (YoY) deal counts show contraction across nearly every major hub. It stressed that the persistent shortage of early-stage, lower-bracket tickets ($100k to $1 million) threatens the bottom of the venture funnel, leaving late-stage mega-deals to carry the weight of the continent’s headline growth.