The Financial Technology (fintech) sector has solidified its dominance in Africa’s startup ecosystem, amassing over $1 billion in funding through the first eight months of 2025, according to the latest Africa Investment Report from Briter Bridges.
This figure, representing a significant rebound from recent funding winters, underscores fintech’s position as the most funded sector on the continent, outpacing emerging rivals like cleantech, which secured nearly $950 million in the same period, much of it through debt financing.
The report which covered January to August 2025, reveals a total of over $2 billion raised across more than 500 deals for African startups, with fintech capturing the lion’s share and driving a 40 percent year-on-year increase in early-stage investments.
As Africa’s digital economy accelerates, this surge highlights investor confidence in fintech’s ability to address financial inclusion for the continent’s 1.55 billion people, where about 49 percent have access to formal banking services.
Briter Bridges’ data, drawn from comprehensive tracking of venture capital and private investments, shows fintech leading with a median deal size of approximately $3 million, mirroring patterns of larger, more strategic bets on mature platforms.
In Q1 2025, fintech attracted $117.67 million, or 25 percent of the $469.9 million total funding across African startups, a sharp recovery from just 7.78 percent in Q1 2024. By May, the sector claimed 34 percent of a $345 million monthly surge, more than double the previous year’s amount, fueled by payments and transfers innovations. Q2 saw over $1.1 billion across 180+ deals, with fintech at the forefront, as noted by the Africa Fintech Summit on X, signaling the end of the funding winter and a return to 2022-2023 highs.
This aligns with Briter’s year-to-date totals, where fintech’s over $1 billion haul dwarfs other sectors, including insurtech’s $76 million in Q1 (16.2 percent share) and edtech’s $24 million raise by Enko Education.
The report’s top sectors by funding volume table positions fintech at the apex, with cleantech a close second at nearly $950 million, reflecting the highest year-on-year growth driven by debt instruments.
Cleantech’s median deal size stands at $5 million, emphasizing larger infrastructure plays like solar energy solutions, which accounted for nearly 80 percent of climate tech funding in Africa alongside battery storage.
Agriculture follows with $500 million, mobility at $100 million, and proptech at $75 million, sectors maintaining steady but smaller shares.
By number of deals, fintech leads with over 15 transactions, ahead of education (6+), agriculture (5+), health (4+), and cleantech (3+), indicating broader investor engagement in fintech’s ecosystem.
This deal frequency underscores fintech’s appeal in payments and transfers, which topped product funding with 30+ deals and $455 million in volume, outstripping solar energy’s 15+ deals despite the latter’s $830 million lead in raw funding.
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Fintech’s enduring lead and sector evolution
Fintech’s supremacy is evident in its funding share trajectory, rising from 50 percent in 2021 to a projected 70 percent by year-end 2025, per Briter’s over-time analysis of top sectors. This growth, up from 23 percent in 2023 amid post-pandemic corrections, reflects diversification into embedded finance and AI-driven tools, with revenues forecasted to reach $230 billion continent-wide by year-end at a 10 percent CAGR.
Payments and transfers dominate as the top product, securing $455 million and 30+ deals, followed by e-learning (15+ deals) and solar energy (15+ deals and $830 million). Diagnostics ($105 million), gas and cooking equipment ($94 million), point-of-sale ($92 million), credit (10+ deals), and professional skills development (8+ deals) round out the top five, blending fintech efficiency with cleantech sustainability.
Notable examples include Nigeria’s Moniepoint achieving unicorn status with a $110 million Series C in 2024, extending into 2025 trends, and Egypt’s MNT-Halan issuing a $50 million bond in May.
Regionally, North Africa led with $450 million in funding through August, driven by Egypt’s 51 percent share in May’s totals, while West Africa followed at $420 million, bolstered by Nigeria and Kenya’s fintech hubs. South Africa’s iKhokha acquisition by Nedbank for over $93 million in August exemplifies M&A momentum in payments fintech.
Globally, Africa’s fintech aligns with stabilization trends, as KPMG’s H1 2025 report notes $44.7 billion worldwide, but the continent’s focus on inclusion, projected mobile users at 475 million by year-end, gives it unique edge.
Cleantech rises as a key challenger
While fintech reigns, cleantech’s ascent is the report’s standout narrative, with its 20 percent funding share in 2025 up from 10 percent in 2021, the highest YoY growth among top sectors. Debt financing propelled this, accounting for nearly half of cleantech’s total, as seen in Sun King’s $80 million deal in May for Nigerian energy access and KOKO Networks’ $179.6 million World Bank guarantee in Kenya.
Solar energy leads products with $830 million, supported by pay-as-you-go models and hardware assets, while CrossBoundary Energy’s $40 million equity round in August marked cleantech’s strongest YoY volume share.
In Q1, cleantech overtook fintech temporarily with $164.5 million (35 percent share), up from 13 percent in 2024, reflecting sustainability priorities. Funds like Airnergize Capital’s $120 million first close in April target cleantech infrastructure, aiming for $200 million to scale energy and water solutions.
Briter’s over-time charts illustrate that Fintech’s bar consistently towers at 70 percent in 2025, with cleantech rising to 20 percent, while agriculture, health, and mobility hold at five percent and 10 percent respectively.
Challenges, implications, and outlook
Despite the optimism, a 90 percent gender funding gap, with only 10 percent to women-led ventures, and a decline in early-stage deals under $1 million signal investor caution toward riskier bets.
Regulatory hurdles and infrastructure gaps persist, yet fintech’s scalability, processing billions in transactions via unicorns like Wave ($1.7 billion valuation), promises SME credit and remittances growth.
Fintech’s over $1 billion milestone is a beacon for inclusion, but cleantech’s debt-fueled rise ensures balanced innovation.
As 2025 progresses, Briter projects total African funding exceeding $3 billion by year-end, with fintech maintaining 60 percent+ dominance.
