Which sectors will thrive? Insights into Africa’s tech trends

The year is 2025. Founders and startups that made it through tell their story of 2023—a relatively “red year” for the African tech ecosystem. 

Recent numbers have confirmed a slowdown in funding (aka funding winter) to African startups. Depending on the dataset you consult, the drop in total funding raised between the first quarter (Q1) of 2022 and 2023 ranges between 29% and 57%. 

We have also witnessed Kenyan e-commerce leader Copia Global exiting its Ugandan market due to macroeconomic conditions and the shutting down of startups like Hytch and the much-heralded LazerPay. 

While this is happening, the ecosystem has also recorded some successes. We gained a new Unicorn—MNT-Halan, on the back of its $400 million raise ($260 million in equity funding and $140 million in debt), and InstaDeep was acquired for a whopping $446 million (Africa’s second-largest acquisition after World Remit’s $500 million).

2023 so far is providing ample opportunities to mourn and celebrate simultaneously. It’s also teaching us that not all startups experience a funding slowdown similarly, or as Nigerians say, “all fingers are not equal”. We can also extend this observation to sectors. Since some startups manage to raise significant funding, it implies that certain sectors thrive despite a downturn. 

Today we present a data story to see how this has played out so far in 2023. This article will provide insights into sectoral performance and tell us which sectors have attracted investor interest and funding despite the funding slowdown. 

Before we dive in, there are some things we should take note of in the data and analysis. The