Funding more than doubles year-on-year as Moove, Flutterwave and other major deals drive a resurgence in Nigeria’s tech ecosystem……
Nigeria has regained its position as Africa’s leading destination for startup funding, attracting $635 million in the first nine months of 2026, more than double the amount raised during the same period last year.
Data from Africa: The Big Deal, an African startup funding tracker, showed that Nigerian startups secured 2.6 times the $247 million recorded between January and September 2025, marking the country’s strongest performance over the period since 2022.
The rebound comes as fundraising slows in other major African startup markets, including Kenya and South Africa, while investment across the continent shifts towards logistics and transport businesses.
Nigeria also recorded the highest number of startups raising at least $100,000 during the period, with 77 ventures securing funding, a 10 per cent increase from the 70 recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.
Excluding pan-African ventures, Nigeria accounted for 37 per cent of startup funding raised by country-specific ventures across the continent, its highest share since 2021.
A handful of major funding deals accounted for a significant share of Nigeria’s impressive performance, led by mobility financing company Moove and fintech firm Flutterwave.
Moove raised $250 million, while Flutterwave secured $100 million. E-commerce platform Jumia attracted $50 million, and cryptocurrency infrastructure company Yellow Card raised $40 million.
The four companies collectively secured $440 million, representing about 69 per cent of Nigeria’s total startup funding during the nine-month period.
Moove’s fundraising milestone comes despite the company’s earlier announcement of plans to exit Nigeria, highlighting the contrasting developments within the country’s startup ecosystem.
Beyond the major transactions, Nigeria maintained its lead in the number of funded ventures, suggesting that its performance was not limited to a handful of large deals.
The continent’s startup funding landscape also recorded a significant shift, with logistics and transport overtaking fintech as the largest sector by funding value.
Africa: The Big Deal reported that logistics and transport ventures raised $780 million between January and September 2026, accounting for 36 per cent of total funding. Fintech followed with $760 million, representing 35 per cent.
The logistics sector’s share marked a record, rising sharply from seven per cent in the corresponding period of 2025. Its previous highest share for the first nine months of a year was 17 per cent, recorded in 2019.
The increase was largely driven by Spiro and Moove, which raised $345 million and $250 million, respectively. Their combined $595 million represented approximately 76 per cent of the sector’s total funding.
Despite losing its lead in funding value, fintech remained the sector with the widest participation, recording 80 startups that raised at least $100,000 during the period.
Egypt maintains growth as Kenya, South Africa suffer declines
Nigeria’s strong performance contrasted with weaker fundraising results in other major African startup markets.
Egypt attracted $445 million, representing a 10 per cent increase from the same period in 2025, maintaining its position as the continent’s second-largest destination for startup funding.
Kenya, however, recorded $201 million, a 73 per cent decline year-on-year, while South Africa raised $182 million, down 58 per cent.
Part of Kenya’s decline was linked to the classification of Spiro, which operates extensively in the country but is categorised as a pan-African venture in the tracker’s database. Even with this adjustment, Kenya’s fundraising remained significantly below its 2025 level.
The number of startups raising at least $100,000 also fell across the three markets. Kenya recorded 45 ventures, down 32 per cent year-on-year, while Egypt had 40, representing a 29 per cent decline. South Africa recorded 34, a 36 per cent drop.
The figures 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.
Collectively, Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya and South Africa accounted for 85 per cent of funding raised by country-specific startups across Africa, excluding pan-African ventures, compared with 83 per cent during the same period last year.
Nigeria closes gap after years of losing ground
Nigeria’s return to the top marks a turnaround after several years of trailing other leading African startup markets.
The country lost its position as Africa’s leading startup funding destination to Kenya in 2023, when Kenyan startups raised $800 million, significantly outpacing their Nigerian counterparts.
Nigeria continued to lag in 2024, attracting about $400 million despite major fundraising rounds by companies such as Moove and Moniepoint.
The trend persisted in 2025, when Nigerian startups raised approximately $442.8 million for the full year.
With $635 million already secured in the first nine months of 2026, the country has surpassed its entire 2025 funding total and strengthened its prospects of finishing the year as Africa’s leading startup investment destination.
The latest figures point to renewed investor interest in Nigeria’s technology ecosystem, although the concentration of funding among a few large transactions means that sustaining the momentum will depend partly on the ability of more startups to attract capital in the coming months.
