Two Africas 🌕🌑
Almost half of African countries have registered at least one $1m+ deal since 2019
[🥃 Glass half full] 26 countries in Africa (representing 85% of the continent’s population) have recorded at least one $1m+ VC deal in the past 3 years. 17 of the 20 most populous countries in Africa are on this list. Ten countries can boast at least one $1m+ deal every year since 2019: Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and Egypt of course, but also Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, Senegal, Cameroon and Tunisia. In 2021 so far, 19 countries have already recorded at least one $1m+ deal, 12 of which have recorded more than one. If we lower the bar to include all $100k+ deals, the list extends to 26 countries in total with at least one deal so far this year, most of which (20) already have more than one such deal.
[🥃 Glass half empty] 28 countries (totalling 205m inhabitants) have recorded no public VC deal over $1m in the past 3 years. The majority of them are countries with smaller populations - and therefore smaller local addressable markets - though three of the 20 most populous countries in Africa are on this list: Sudan, Angola, and Burkina Faso. Of the 20 least populous countries, only two have recorded a $1m+ deal since 2019: Mauritius and Lesotho. In 2021 so far, almost two thirds of countries (35) have recorded no $1m+ deal, and just over half (28) have not yet recorded a single $100k+ deal.
Thank you very much for reading us again this week, or if you’re new to this newsletter: Welcome! We work tirelessly to build and maintain a comprehensive database of deals with data from public sources and confidential information kindly shared by investors in the region; if you think we’ve missed a deal, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!