Nigeria reclaims Africa’s startup funding lead as investments rise to $635 million

Nigeria reclaimed its position as Africa’s leading destination for startup funding in the first nine months of 2026, attracting $635 million, more than double the amount recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.

Data from Africa: The Big Deal, an African startup funding tracker, showed that 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.

Moove, Flutterwave lead major funding rounds

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.

Logistics overtakes fintech as Africa’s biggest funded sector

Across Africa, logistics and transport emerged as the largest startup funding category by value, overtaking fintech, which had dominated the sector for most of the past seven years.

• According to the report, logistics and transport startups raised $780 million between January and September 2026, representing 36% of total funding, compared with $760 million, or 35%, for fintech.
• The logistics and transport sector’s share was a record, up from just 7% in the corresponding period of 2025. Its previous high for the first nine months of a year was 17%, recorded in 2019.

The shift was largely driven by two companies, Spiro and Moove, which raised $345 million and $250 million, respectively. Their combined $595 million accounted for approximately 76% of the sector’s total funding.

Fintech nevertheless retained its lead in the number of funded ventures, with 80 startups raising at least $100,000 during the period.

Egypt holds steady as Kenya and South Africa lose ground

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.

Together, 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.

What you should know

Nigeria lost the top position in terms of startup funding in Africa to Kenya in 2023 and since then has been trailing among the big four.

For the year, Nigerian startups Nigerian startups raised a total of $410 million, less than half of what they raised in 2022 and 2021, while Kenyan startups topped with $800 million raise.

In 2024, Nigeria still trailed Kenya raising just about $400 million despite two big tickets secured by Moove and Moniepoint.

The pattern remained unchanged in 2025 with Nigerian startups raising a total of $442.8 million in the year. With $635 million already raised in the first nine months of 2026, Nigerian startups have surpassed 2025 full-year record and are on course to top the African startup funding table this year.