Investments in African start-ups in 2019 broke all previous records.
According to the latest WeeTracker Decoding Venture Investments in Africa report, the continent registered a total of US$1.34 billion via 427 deals in equity and debt financing last year. The report covers agreements across 20 industries, 54 countries and at least 20 contract types.
More than 75% of the deals were concentrated in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. Nigeria took top spot with investments totalling US$663.24 million, the highest amount of venture capital money secured by any country for the year. The West African nation and Kenya jointly accounted for 81.5% of investment received.
Fintech saw a growth of 138.48% during 2019, securing US$678.73 million due to an increase in seed and series A rounds. In addition, 24 merger and acquisition deals occurred during the same year – 50% up on 2018.
African ventures raised US$726million in 2018 and US$167 million in 2017.
