Venture capital investment in French-speaking Africa has ballooned in the last three years, driven by pandemic-era tech innovation and regulatory changes, new research shows.
The African Private Capital Association (AVCA) industry body, in a report seen by Semafor Africa that focuses on 21 sub-Saharan African countries which use French as an official language, said venture capital funding underpinned 60% of deals in Francophone Africa between 2021 and the first half of 2024. It had been “virtually absent” in those countries prior to 2016, according to the report.
“While VC has grown steadily across Africa, its rise in Francophone Africa has been particularly pronounced,” states the report, adding that there had been “an eightfold increase in deal volume between 2012-2020 and 2021-2024 H1, compared to just over a twofold increase across the continent.”
The shift has been…
