REPORT | ‘No Denying the Weight of Nigeria in Africa’s Startup Ecosystem,’ Says Africa the Big Deal

During the last 5 years, Nigeria has raised $4.6 billion in venture funding, 29 percent of the $16.2 billion total funding attracted into the African startup ecosystem in the period.

This was revealed in a new report by Africa the Big Deal, demonstrating the key role played by the country despite having fallen back in recent years.

“There is no denying the weight of Nigeria and the broader region in the African ecosystem overall, though things have shifted since the end of the funding heatwave in mid-2022,” the report said.

Kenya has overtaken Nigeria as the leading destination for venture funding over the past two years.

In 2024, startups in the East African nation secured $638 million, accounting for 29% of the total $2.2 billion raised across the continent.

That said, Nigeria’s leadership in venture funding is further highlighted by its presence in the unicorn club. The country currently has five unicorns, each valued at over $1 billion. These include:

• InterSwitch (2019)
• Andela (2021)
• Flutterwave (2021)
• Opay (2021), and
• Moniepoint (2024), the most recent addition


Collectively, these Nigerian unicorns are part of a group of 15 West African startups that secured 55% of the region’s total funding over the past five years. Unsurprisingly, 13 of these 15 startups are based in Nigeria.

The two non-Nigerian startups in this group are:

• Wave Mobile Money and
• Spiro.

Wave Mobile Money has secured nearly $300 million in funding, accounting for 71% of Senegal’s total funding since 2019. Meanwhile, Spiro has raised over $100 million, representing 85% of Benin’s total funding.

The West African region has also been the leading destination for startup funding since 2019 raising $5.8 billion, which accounts for 36 percent of the total $16.2 billion raised.


Indeed, during the heatwave and the period leading to it (2020 to mid-2022), West Africa had attracted 41% of the continent’s start-up funding, almost double the share of the second-most attractive region (East Africa, 22%).

“Since mid-2022, however, this share has dropped to 25%, with East Africa (30%) claiming the top spot,” the report said.

However, unlike other regions where a single dominant player commands the vast majority of venture funding, West Africa’s funding landscape is comparatively more distributed.

For example, while Nigeria accounted for 70% of the region’s total funding last year [2024], its dominance was not as pronounced as Kenya’s (88%), Egypt’s (84%), or South Africa’s (99.2%) within their respective regions.

West Africa hosts four countries that have secured $100 million or more in funding since 2019 – more than any other region.

• Ghana, Africa’s fifth-largest market by funding, raised $460 million, while
• Senegal, ranked sixth, secured $410 million
• Benin attracted $133 million, and
• Côte d’Ivoire received $107 million