Nigeria is back at the top of Africa's startup funding table for the first time since 2022. Startups headquartered in the country raised $635 million between January and September 2026, according to the tracker Africa: The Big Deal, whose nine-month figures were reported on 20 and 21 October by BusinessDay and Nairametrics.
That is 2.6 times the $247 million raised in the same period of 2025, and the country's strongest nine months since 2022. Stripping out pan-African ventures, Nigeria took 37% of the money that went to startups based in a single African country, its highest share since 2021. It was also the only one of the big four markets where the number of funded companies grew: 77 Nigerian ventures raised at least $100,000, up from 70.
Four deals, two thirds of the money
The rebound is narrow. Africa: The Big Deal counts $440 million, about 69% of Nigeria's total, from four companies alone.
- Moove, mobility financing: $250 million
- Flutterwave, payments: $100 million
- Jumia, e-commerce: $50 million
- Yellow Card, crypto infrastructure: $40 million
Moove has since said it is leaving Nigeria, which makes the largest single cheque in the table a poor guide to where the money will be spent.
Logistics takes the lead from fintech
Across the continent, logistics and transport raised $780 million in the nine months, or 36% of all funding, ahead of fintech's $760 million and 35%. A year earlier logistics took 7%. Two deals did most of the work: Spiro's $345 million and Moove's $250 million are about three quarters of the sector's total, and without them it would have raised roughly $185 million. Fintech still backed the most companies, with 80 raising at least $100,000.
Elsewhere the picture is thinner. Egypt raised $445 million, up 10%. Kenya fell 73% to $201 million and South Africa 58% to $182 million, both with their lowest count of funded ventures since 2021. Energy raised $187 million, down 74%, and healthcare $21 million, down 88% and the weakest nine months since the tracker began in 2019.
