Africa was not immune to last year’s tech VC winter

It was a tough year for VC, and Egypt was no exception: Egypt was the third biggest destination for tech venture capital in Africa last year when measured by the number and value of transactions announced, global venture capital outfit Partech said in its annual report on tech VC funding for African startups. South Africa took the top spot by value, reeling in USD 549 mn in funding from 83 transactions, followed by Nigeria, where 111 transactions accounted for USD 469 mn in funding. Kenya came in fourth, with USD 335 mn from 67 transactions.

The global picture: Global VC funding in 2023 fell 35% y-o-y to USD 345 bn, according to datafrom research firm PitchBook. The year also progressively worsened, with each quarter of 2023 recording lower VC transaction value than the one before it, PitchBook’s data shows. North America led the pack by volume and value of transactions during the year with 14.4k transactions worth USD 179.1 bn, followed by Asia (11.3k transactions worth USD 91.1 bn), then Europe (9.4k transactions worth USD 61.9 bn).

Transaction volume + value in Egypt dropped significantly: Out of the top four performers in the continent, “Egypt is the most drastically impacted,” the report said. The number of transactions dropped 58% y-o-y to 60, while funding volume declined 45% y-o-y to USD 432 mn. However, the total volume “is hiding an even steeper decline as 60% of that amount went into a single [transaction],” namely MNT-Halan’s January funding round that saw it raise USD 260 mn equity financing in addition to another USD 140 mn from securitized bond issuances.

Our biggest tech sectors: The vast majority (70%) of our tech VC funding for the year went into fintech, although that figure was skewed again because of MNT-Halan. Healthtech reeled in c.10% of Egypt’s tech VC funding, followed by e-commerce and enterprise.

The “big four” of Africa all slipped: South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, and Kenya continued to take the biggest slice of the tech VC pie in Africa, accounting for 79% of total equity funding volume (up from 72% in 2022) from 68% of all transactions in the continent (down from 77% in 2022). “Despite leading the market, all four countries witnessed a considerable decrease in funding due to prevailing market challenges,” the report notes. Nigeria saw a 59% y-o-y drop in equity funding last year, while Kenya similarly experienced a 56% y-o-y drop. South Africa’s decline was less steep, coming in at 34% y-o-y.

But they’re still the “big four”: All growth stage VC funding transactions happened in these four countries, “seeming to indicate that in an uncertain market, later stage investors refocused again on larger, better known tech markets,” Partech said. These four countries also include three of Africa’s “largest economies and consumer markets” — Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa.

What drove the declines? In addition to pressure from the global VC downturn in 2023, each of these countries also grappled with individual economic challenges. These factors include currency devaluations in Nigeria and Egypt, which “contributed to uncertain investment environments, resulting in startup closures and investor pullback,” Partech reports.

Beyond the big four, investors began pivoting towards Francophone African countries in 2023, according to Partech. “In 2023, Francophone Africa distinguished itself as a dynamic and growing force in the tech sector, defying broader market trends, and being the only region to demonstrate year-over-year growth both in the number of [transactions] and investor participation.” Francophone countries accounted for 68% of equity funding volume in Africa, excluding the big four, up from 38% the year prior. Morocco, Congo, Rwanda, Tunisia, and Senegal were all in the top 10 biggest countries for African tech VC funding in 2023, “highlighting the growing appeal and potential of these markets in the tech sector,” Partech said.