Over 300 African Startups have raised over $ 3.5 billion in venture capital deals

NAIROBI, Kenya - A new report by African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA) has revealed that 445 African startups raised $ 3.5 billion in venture capital (VC) deals in the last half of 2022, compared to 259 deals valued in the same period last year.

The report dubbed AVCAs 2022 Venture Capital in Africa further shows the concerted effort by African governments in recent years to nurture vibrant and supportive ecosystems, enabling entrepreneurship and investment to thrive in the continent.

according to the report, which was released last week, including the Zambian government now seeks to be the regional start-up hub within the Southern African region, in what the report dubbed ‘the Singapore of Africa’.

Recently Tanzanian government launched Silicon Zanzibar7 by the Tanzanian government exemplifying the commitment to creating enabling environments for African start-ups to thrive, remain competitive, and attract commercial capital.

“While the head and tailwinds of the final quarter of 2022 remain to be seen, the rising tide of venture capital in Africa in 2022 H1 affirmed this optimism for the industry at the start of the year. Africa’s venture ecosystem has shown bullish trends despite surging inflation and an unfavorable macroeconomic climate.” AVCAs 2022 Venture Capital in Africa report states.

As per the report, Kenya continues to top the East African region in attracting venture capitalists for its startups.

The report shows that the East African region attracted 22 percent (98 deals) of the total VC deals, with Kenya completing 54 valued at $330 million, followed by Uganda (10 deals valued at $41 million) and Tanzania (6 deals).

West Africa attracted the highest portion standing at 33 percent) of the total number of VC deals in the continent, followed by East Africa at 22 percent, North Africa at 20 percent, Southern Africa scored 14 percent, multi-Region, at 10 percent, and Central Africa attracted only one percent.

Of the 42 multi-region VC deals that took place in the first half of 2022, 16 deals 8 percent were in companies that pursued geographic diversification via direct business expansion, while 15 which represents 36 percent were in companies that have leveraged mergers and acquisitions to facilitate their regional expansion, indicating the dynamism of the plan.

In terms of venture capital value, Nigeria recorded the highest number of VC deals (101) valued at $285 million followed by Egypt (63 deals valued at $352 million), Kenya (54 deals at$330 million) South Africa (50 deals at $131 million) and Ghana (21 deals at $133 million).

GAROWE ONLINE