Venture capitalists invested $6.5 billion in Africa last year
Venture capitalists invested a record total of $6.5 billion in African companies in 2022 through a mix of investment and debt deals.
West African companies concluded the most deals, with 235 deals worth $843 million, followed by their North African counterparts. Central African companies concluded only eight deals worth less than $50 million.
This comes from the Venture Capital in Africa Report for 2022 by the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association.
The African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association is a pan-African industry body which promotes and enables private investment in Africa.
Over 850 deals were concluded across the continent in 2022, with 448 companies receiving investment.
Crucially, most investments came from international investors, who contributed 77% of all investment funds, with Africans making up only 23%.
Compared globally, the African venture capital market is minuscule – the $6.5 billion invested in 2022 comprised only 1.2% of all venture capital investments globally.
However, the African market has proven resilient by being the only continent to see an increase in dealmaking in 2022, along with Asia.
From 2014 to 2022, venture capitalists invested $16.7 billion in companies on the continent. Dealmaking and the value of investments have increased substantially over the last decade.
Dealmaking increased at an annual compound rate of 31%, from 69 deals in 2014 to 853 in 2022.
The value of venture capital investments in Africa has increased by 33% annually from a paltry $400 million in 2014 to $6.5 billion in 2022.
West Africa received the largest share of the deals, taking 30% of the total, with Nigeria receiving 22% of all deals in Africa.
However, North Africa saw the most significant value invested, with the region receiving over $1 billion in venture funding.
Southern Africa has seen a steady decline in its share of dealmaking from an average of 21% annually from 2014 to 2021 to a mere 15% share in 2022.
Venture capital investment is broken down by region below. This excludes venture debt and multi-regional deals.
Region | Number of deals | Value of deals ($) |
North Africa | 178 | $1.1 billion |
East Africa | 168 | $899 million |
West Africa | 235 | $843 million |
Southern Africa | 120 | $481 million |
Central Africa | 8 | $48 million |
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