Q1 2025 Private Capital in Africa Activity Report
Analysing trends in private capital activity in Africa.
The Q1 2025 Stears Private Capital in Africa Report analyses African private market transactions for Q1 2025. It examines key trends in private investments, providing valuable insights for fund managers and corporate decision-makers on the countries, industries, and companies attracting private capital.
The Q1 2025 Stears Private Capital in Africa Report has been produced in partnership with the East Africa Venture Capital Association (EAVCA).
Key takeaways
Consistent Transaction Volumes: 2025 began with 105 recorded private capital transactions in the first quarter, similar to the 106 transactions in Q4 2024.
Shift to Large Deals: Mega transactions (> $75 million) fell significantly to just 5% of transactions from 27% in Q4 2024, replaced by an increased volume of large transactions ($25–$75 million).
Equity Financing Dominance: Equity financing remained dominant, involved in 79% of transactions, an increase from 73% in the previous quarter.
Debt Financing Trends: Debt financing was prominent in the Energy and Consumer Goods sectors. Consumer Goods accounted for 32% of all African debt transactions, highlighted by Royal Garment Group’s $15 million senior debt from IFC. Energy had the highest share of debt-financed transactions (50% of all energy deals) and these energy transactions accounted for 36% of Africa's total debt deals.
Active Series B Market: Q1 2025 saw notable Series B fundraises, including Lemonade Finance ($53 million), Naked Technology ($38 million), and Gozem ($30 million).
Exits Indicate Improving Liquidity: Several successful exits took place. Actis exited Java House to Alterra Capital and Phatisa, and Beltone Capital acquired 67.13% of Baobab Group, facilitating exits for AXA Investment Managers, Apis Partners, and Abler Nordic. Noteworthy trade sales included Alitheia Capital and Goodwell’s 3x naira return from Baobab Nigeria, and Amethis’ exit from Merec Industries to UAE-based Invictus.
Robust M&A activity: High-profile corporate M&A deals included Nigerian Breweries acquiring full control of Distell Wines and Spirits Nigeria, Vumatel acquiring Herotel Telecoms in South Africa, and Old Mutual Corporate Ventures purchasing 30% stakes in two subsidiaries of Vunani Limited, reflecting targeted financial services investments.
Sector Trends: Financial Services transactions led sector activity, accounting for 30% of transactions, doubling from 15% in the previous quarter. Sector activity was quite uneven: the top three sectors (Financial Services, Consumer Goods & Services, Technology) accounted for 73% of transactions, up significantly from 55% in Q4 2024.
Regional Trends: Southern Africa led regional activity (37%), followed by East Africa (34%), West Africa (31%), and notably improved North Africa (27%). Sector highlights include Telecommunications (Southern Africa), Agriculture (West Africa), Technology (North Africa), and Energy and Financial Services (Central Africa).
Growing Interest in AI: Africa saw increased interest in AI investments amid a global boom. Notable AI investments included Widebot’s $3 million pre-Series A round, highlighting a targeted investment in Arabic-focused AI solutions, and Oze’s funding from VISA and DEG for AI-powered SME lending.
Overview of private capital transaction activity
The African private capital market began 2025 robustly, with Stears recording 105 transactions in Q1 2025, broadly consistent with the 106 transactions seen in Q4 2024 and significantly higher than the 88 transactions recorded in Q1 2024. Despite this sustained transactional momentum, disclosed transaction values noticeably dipped to $1.6 billion, a sharp decline from $4.7 billion in the previous quarter and below the $2.9 billion recorded in Q1 2024. This reduction occurred even as disclosure rates improved slightly to 62% from 58% in Q4 2024 and 59% in Q1 2024. The drop in transaction value primarily reflects a shift in deal size composition, with investors moving away from mega transactions (valued above $75 million) towards more moderately sized large deals (ranging from $25 million to $75 million). Equity financing continued to dominate the financing landscape in Africa, featuring in 79% of all transactions in Q1 2025, an increase from 73% in Q4 2024, underscoring investors' ongoing preference for equity-based structures during the period.
Ticket sizes: A shift from Mega Deals to Large deals
Transaction sizes shifted notably in Q1 2025, with only 5% of disclosed transactions exceeding $75 million (mega deals) during the quarter, down significantly from 27% in Q4 2024 and 13% in Q1 2024. The quarter saw just three disclosed mega deals:
The $500 million acquisition of a 50% stake in Allied Gold by Ambrosia Investment Company. This transaction included a $250 million upfront commitment earmarked for expanding operations at the Sadiola mine in Mali and the Kurmuk mine in Ethiopia.
United Energy Group’s $150 million purchase of Apex International Energy Holdings I from Blue Water Energy, positioning UEG within Egypt’s robust oil production market.
Etana Energy secured $75 million from Standard Bank and Norfund, comprising $20 million in preference shares and a $55 million payment guarantee from Standard Bank.
This shift stands in sharp contrast to previous quarters. Q4 2024 featured substantial mega transactions, including Chappal Energies’ $1.2 billion acquisition of Equinor, along with significant late-stage venture funding for Tyme Bank ($250 million Series D) and Cassava Technologies ($310 million debt and equity package).
With fewer mega deals, large-sized transactions ($25–$75 million) filled the gap, characterised by notable Series B rounds and strategic project financings.
Series B Highlights:
Gozem, the Francophone super-app, closed a $30 million Series B round (split evenly between debt and equity) from SAS Shipping Agencies Services Sàrl and Al Mada Ventures, a substantial increase from its previous $11.5 million raise in 2023.
Naked Financial Technology secured a $38 million Series B extension led by BlueOrchard, significantly up from its $17 million raise in 2023.
Lemonade Technology raised $53 million in a round led by Highland Europe, building upon its previous $33 million Series A financing in 2023.
Project Financing Highlights:
OPEC Fund provided $30 million in senior debt financing to Suez Wind to develop Africa’s largest onshore wind project in Egypt's Gulf of Suez.
British International Investment (BII) extended a $40.5 million term loan to Johnvents Industries Limited, aimed at refurbishing Premium Cocoa Products, Johnvents’ second cocoa processing facility in Nigeria.
International Finance Corporation (IFC) committed $37 million in senior debt to Mohinani Group to facilitate the establishment of two PET recycling plants through its subsidiaries in Ghana and Nigeria.
Case Study: Corporate Mergers & Acquisitions in Q1 2025
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) played a crucial role in driving private capital activity across Africa in Q1 2025, underscoring the strategic importance of corporate investments on the continent. Several high-profile transactions took place during the quarter:
Nigerian Breweries acquired the remaining 20% stake in Distell Wines and Spirits Nigeria (DWSN) from Ekulo International and Next International Nigeria, taking full ownership of DWSN. This move supports Nigerian Breweries' strategic shift from a predominantly beer-focused portfolio towards faster-growing segments such as wines and spirits.
South African fibre infrastructure provider Vumatel completed its phased acquisition of internet service provider Herotel Telecoms, increasing its stake from 49.96% to 100%. This follows Vumatel’s initial entry in 2022, when it first purchased a 45% interest, underscoring its commitment to expanding its digital infrastructure footprint.
Old Mutual Corporate Ventures acquired a 30% equity stake in two subsidiaries of Vunani Limited—Fairheads Benefit Services and Fairheads Financial Services—for $3.8 million, both of which specialise in managing beneficiary funds for minor dependents of deceased retirement fund members.
Guan Chong Berhad, one of the world’s leading cocoa grinders, expanded its presence in West Africa by acquiring a 25% stake in Transcao-Côte d’Ivoire from Côte d'Ivoire’s cocoa and coffee regulatory body, for $28.9 million.
Exit Analysis: Trade sale exits highlight improving liquidity
The opening quarter of 2025 witnessed several notable exits in Africa’s private capital market, reflecting increasing liquidity and successful investor outcomes:
Actis fully exited its investment in Java House Limited, selling its stake to Alterra Capital Partners and Phatisa Fund Managers 2. Additionally, Saviu Ventures sold its 22% stake in Lapaire Glasses, a pan-African eyewear provider, to French investment firm Creadev.
Egypt-based investment firm Beltone Capital acquired a controlling 67.13% stake in SME-focused financial services provider Baobab Group, facilitating exits for multiple investors, including AXA Investment Managers Alternatives (34.26%), Apis Partners (21.05%), and Abler Nordic (11.82%).
InfraCo Africa, part of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), sold its 25% stake in Malawi-based Golomoti Solar to Old Mutual Malawi, under Old Mutual Investment Group’s Alternative Investments division.
The quarter also featured significant trade sale exits, highlighting robust secondary market activity:
Alitheia Capital and Goodwell Investments successfully exited their stakes in Baobab Nigeria through a trade sale to the parent company, Baobab Group, achieving a 3x naira return over a 13-year investment horizon.
Amethis Investment Fund Manager exited its minority stake in Mozambique’s largest wheat milling and packaged foods manufacturer, Merec Industries, through a full acquisition by UAE-based agro-food commodity trader Invictus.
AgDevCo Limited completed its exit from Saise Farming Enterprises Limited (SFEL), selling its entire equity stake to Zambia’s largest potato trader, Buya Bamba Limited. SFEL was initially established in 2016 as a joint venture between AgDevCo and Buya Bamba.
Q1 2025 Investor League Table
The Q1 2025 investor league table features the top eight investors, each completing three or more transactions in the period. Familiar names such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC), British International Investment (BII), and Renew Capital maintained their positions from previous quarters.
Beyond these leading investors, it is worth flagging the private equity funds that completed multiple transactions in Q1 2025:
Adiwale Partners invested in Enko Education (alongside Africa Capitalworks) and Jus Délice.
Alterra Capital Partners completed investments in ARP Africa Limited and Java House (together with Phatisa Fund Managers 2).
Old Mutual Private Equity acquired a 25% stake in Golomoti Solar and a 30% stake in two subsidiaries of Vunani Limited.
A standout investor in Q1 2025 was Norfund (the Norwegian Fund for Developing Countries), Norway's development finance institution. Norfund has significantly increased its activity this year. After recording four transactions in 2024 and five in 2023, it already matched its full 2024 total with four transactions in the first quarter of 2025 alone. It was also the largest investor by disclosed transaction value in Q1, surpassing the IFC.
Norfund’s investments this quarter focused primarily on the energy sector, with equity investments in CrossBoundary Energy, Pele Energy Group, and Etana Energy. Norfund has increased its equity activity significantly in Q1 2025. It completed three equity deals, matching the combined total from 2023 and 2024. Despite the increased transaction count, Norfund’s total investment value of approximately $180 million so far in 2025 remains below previous years. In previous years, Norfund participated in larger deals, including $295 million debt financing for Access Bank and $145 million for Copperbelt Energy in 2024, as well as $132 million for Pele Energy Group and $200 million for Ecobank in 2023.
Q1 2025 Sectoral Insights
African private capital activity experienced significant sectoral shifts in Q1 2025. The Financial Services sector led transaction volumes, accounting for 30% of all transactions. This was followed by Consumer Goods & Services (25%) and Technology (19%).
Compared to Q4 2024, the ranking of sectors changed notably. Industrials, which was the leading sector last quarter (20%), fell sharply to sixth place (7%). Conversely, Financial Services moved from fifth place (15%) in Q4 2024 to the top position in Q1 2025 (30%). Consumer Goods & Services maintained its position in second place, while Technology and Agriculture remained in the top five, though their rankings shifted slightly.
The distribution of transactions across sectors was also more uneven in Q1 2025. In Q4 2024, the top five sectors were closely grouped, each within five percentage points of each other. By contrast, in Q1 2025, the gap between the first-ranked Financial Services and second-ranked Consumer Goods alone was five percentage points. Moreover, the three leading sectors in Q1 2025 accounted for a substantial 73% of total transactions, compared to only 55% for the top three sectors in Q4 2024.
Payments and lending subsectors led transaction activity in Q1 2025. Notable transactions included Lemonade Technology’s $53 million Series B round and Enza Group’s $6.75 million fundraise. Another active subsector was Commercial & Industrial (C&I) Solar within the Energy sector, highlighted by CrossBoundary Energy securing a combined $85 million in funding from Norfund and the Emerging Africa & Asia Infrastructure Fund.
Sector Focus: Artificial Intelligence
One technology area gaining significant attention globally is artificial intelligence (AI). Over the past 18 months, AI adoption and investment have surged. In March 2025, Anthropic, the developer behind the Claude AI systems, raised $3.5 billion in a Series E funding round, reaching a $61.5 billion valuation. Shortly after, OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, announced a $40 billion funding round led by Softbank and other investors, valuing the company at approximately $300 billion. This valuation surpasses notable companies such as U.S. payments giant Stripe (~$92 billion) and approaches ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, which is valued between $300 billion and $400 billion. Additionally, Andreessen Horowitz, one of the largest U.S. venture capital firms, announced plans to raise a $20 billion AI-focused investment fund—the largest in its history.
AI investments in Africa remain relatively modest, as most of the innovation in AI currently occurs in developed markets. Nevertheless, Q1 2025 featured some important AI-related investments on the continent:
Widebot, an Egyptian AI startup, completed a $3 million pre-Series A funding round led by Kehelian Asset Management II. Widebot developed AQL Mind, the first Arabic large language model (LLM) designed to understand diverse Arabic dialects and accents, illustrating how targeted investment can address regional AI application gaps.
Ghanaian startup Oze, which offers AI-powered SME lending solutions such as credit scoring, secured funding from VISA, DEG, and other investors.
Equity and Debt financing trends across sectors
Equity financing continued to dominate private capital transactions in Africa during Q1 2025, consistent with the trend observed in 2024. However, debt financing played a more prominent role in the Energy and Consumer Goods sectors.
Consumer Goods transactions had a particularly high level of debt activity in Q1 2025. While 90% of transactions in this sector were equity-based in Q4 2024, this fell sharply to 69% in Q1 2025. Additionally, more than a third (35%) of Consumer Goods transactions included a debt component. As a result, the sector accounted for 32% of all debt transactions on the continent during the quarter. A notable example is Royal Garment Group's $15 million senior debt from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of a potential total debt and equity investment of $20 million.
Energy remained the sector with the highest proportion of debt financing, with an even split between debt and equity transactions during the quarter. Energy transactions accounted for 36% of all African debt transactions in Q1 2025, three times their share of equity transactions.
Regional Dynamics
Southern Africa started 2025 strongly, leading regional transaction activity with 37% of total African transactions. East Africa followed closely with 34%, while West Africa accounted for 31%. North Africa also experienced notable growth, accounting for 27% of transactions in Q1 2025, a material increase from its 22% share in FY 2024.
In terms of country trends within regions:
Central Africa: Activity was concentrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Cameroon, with all transactions involving at least one of these two countries.
East Africa: Kenya led regional activity, accounting for 72% of transactions—more than the combined share of Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda (56%).
Southern Africa: South Africa dominated the region, representing 77% of transactions. Although still the most concentrated region, other Southern African countries also contributed notably, with 23% of transactions occurring outside South Africa.
West Africa: Nigeria was the regional leader, accounting for 61% of transactions, nearly twice the share of Ghana, the next most active country with 33%.
North Africa: Egypt accounted for just over half (54%) of regional transactions, the lowest share among regional leaders in Q1 2025. Morocco (32%) and Tunisia (21%) followed, reflecting relatively balanced transaction activity across the region.
Region Spotlight: East Africa
East Africa remains a premier destination in Africa for PE, VC, and DFI investment, ranking 2nd in 2024 (36% of deals) and maintaining 2nd place in Q1 2025 (34% of deals). It is worth analysing the fund managers that played significant roles in East Africa’s private capital market this quarter: Alterra Capital Partners and Inua Capital.
Alterra Capital Partners: Alterra was a prominent player in the region, involved in East Africa’s most notable exit as Actis exited Java House to Alterra Capital Partners and Phatisa Fund Managers. Alterra acquired a controlling stake while Phatisa took a minority interest. Actis initially acquired Java House in 2019 following Abraaj’s liquidation. Alterra also invested in East Africa's tourism sector, obtaining a majority stake in family-owned ARP Africa Travel, a leading luxury and experiential travel service provider.
Inua Capital: Inua Capital was another notable fund manager during the quarter. Inua stands out as a private equity firm founded and domiciled in Uganda, specifically targeting local investment opportunities. At the beginning of the year, Inua Capital announced an investment in Flow Uganda, the Ugandan operations of Flow Global, a microfinance provider focused on entrepreneurs. This investment was made through Inua’s $8 million Inua Impact Fund, launched in 2023.
East Africa Insights: Bridging the Gaps in East Africa
While transaction volumes remain high, capital remains unevenly distributed, with Kenya dominating and attracting more deals than Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda combined. Investor deployment strategies are revealing structural gaps across East Africa. Early-stage ventures outside Kenya face capital droughts as local pipelines are constrained by limited early-stage support, sectoral over-reliance, and shallow capital depth. In Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda, early growth-stage companies still struggle to raise capital, especially outside core sectors like energy and fintech. With the growing concentration of investors in Kenya, the risk of overlooking investable businesses in other East African countries is reinforced. Investors can diversify their portfolios by geography through targeted capital mobilisation in underserved markets such as early-stage renewable energy in Tanzania and healthtech in Rwanda. This can help balance the regional private capital landscape.
East Africa Insights: Local Institutional Capital as an Investor Catalyst
One persistent bottleneck in deepening the regional investment ecosystem is the absence of local Limited Partner (LP) participation in General Partner (GP) fundraising. Most East African investors remain reliant on international LPs. Local institutional capital, particularly from pension funds and insurers, has been slow to enter this alternative asset class, despite growing assets under management. For example, Kenya’s pension sector controls over $13 billion, but less than 1% is allocated to private equity, far below the allocated 10% regulatory ceiling. Similar gaps exist in Uganda and Tanzania, where risk appetite, regulatory clarity, and pipeline visibility remain barriers. Despite combined pension and insurance assets in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda surpassing $25 billion, local allocations to private capital remain negligible.
This capital mismatch affects more than just fund manager liquidity. The absence of domestic LPs reduces capital stability and weakens long-term alignment. The lack of domestic LP participation also has direct implications for investors and the companies they back. Without local capital anchoring funds, investors may skew portfolios toward sectors or strategies favoured by international investors, potentially overlooking region-specific needs and opportunities. Comparatively, in markets like South Africa, where institutional LPs anchor many local investors, there is evidence of the potential of leveraging domestic capital to build the private capital ecosystem. Mobilising even a fraction of local institutional capital into PE and VC could stabilise fund structures, deepen local ownership, and unlock capital for high-growth companies operating beyond the traditional tech-energy-finance nexus and into more high-impact sectors like agriculture and healthcare.
Q1 2025 Country Insights
Country rankings in Q1 2025 mirrored the regional order (Southern–East–West), with South Africa leading ahead of Kenya and Nigeria. South Africa also dominated single-country transactions, which alone accounted for 17% of all African deals during the quarter. Despite having fewer total transactions, large North African countries continued to attract significant single-country investment; Morocco and Egypt together accounted for 15% of single-country deals, surpassing the combined total for Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya (14%). This marks an improvement from FY 2024, when Egypt's share of single-country transactions (8%) lagged behind Kenya (11%) and Nigeria (9%).
Sectoral trends across regions
Analysis of sectoral transaction activity across regions highlights the dominance of Financial Services at the start of 2025. Financial Services emerged as the leading sector in all regions except North Africa, where Technology took the top position. Further down the list, there were several standout sectors within regions.
Southern Africa: Apart from Financial Services, two sectors stood out in Southern Africa: Consumer Goods and Telecommunications.
Consumer Goods (CG) had lower-than-expected activity. Although CG ranked second in overall African transaction activity (25% of all deals in Q1 2025), it represented just 18% of deals in Southern Africa, making it the region's fourth most active sector. Furthermore, Southern Africa accounted for only 27% of Africa’s Consumer Goods transactions, despite having a 37% share of total deals.
Telecommunications performed strongly, with all African telecoms transactions in Q1 2025 occurring in Southern Africa. Telecommunications transactions made up 10% of Southern Africa’s transactions and were concentrated in fibre infrastructure. Notable transactions included:
Infinite Partners and the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) acquired three South African fibre companies; Evolution Tel (Evotel), Linklayer, and Net Nine-Nine (Net99), consolidating them under a new entity, Fibre Holdco.
Meridiam SAS acquired a majority stake in Ilitha, a South African fibre network operator.
Vumatel, a South African fibre infrastructure provider, completed its acquisition of Herotel Telecoms, a national internet service provider, by increasing its stake from 49.96% to 100%.
East Africa: The Energy and Healthcare sectors stood out in East Africa for different reasons. East Africa accounted for the largest share of Energy transactions (44%, tied with Southern Africa), with Energy trailing only Financial Services in East African transaction volume. Healthcare was also prominent, with East African deals representing 60% of all African healthcare transactions in Q1 2025.
West Africa: Agriculture emerged as the standout sector in West Africa, contributing 56% of Africa's agricultural transactions. Notable deals included:
British International Investment’s (BII) $40.5 million debt financing for Johnvents Industries Limited, a Nigerian cocoa processing company.
Acumen’s $2 million equity investment in Ghanaian agri-tech firm Wami Agro.
Guan Chong Berhad, the world’s fourth-largest cocoa grinder, acquired a 25% stake in Côte d'Ivoire’s Transcao CI for $28.9 million.
North Africa: Technology dominated in North Africa, accounting for 29% of trasactions in North Africa, the highest proportion across all regions. And despite recording less transaction activity overall, North Africa tied with Southern Africa for the highest number of technology transactions continent-wide. Prominent transactions included Widebot’s $3 million pre-Series A funding and Enza Group's $6.75 million fundraise.
Central Africa: The Energy and Financial Services sectors were particularly strong in Central Africa. Transactions from this region accounted for 22% of African Energy deals and 19% of Financial Services deals, despite Central Africa representing only 12% of total African transaction activity. Combined, Energy and Financial Services accounted for 77% of all Central African transactions in the quarter.
Financing trends across regions
Financing trends across Africa showed that East Africa, West Africa, and Southern Africa aligned closely with the continental average, with roughly three-quarters of their transactions involving equity financing. This matches the overall African average of 79% equity financing for the quarter. However, financing trends were more skewed in North Africa and Central Africa. In North Africa, equity financing clearly dominated, representing 86% of all transactions, the highest equity proportion among all regions. Debt financing was notably lower here, accounting for just 14%, the lowest debt share continent-wide. Conversely, Central Africa continued its trend towards debt financing, with 38% of its transactions including a debt component—the highest proportion of debt financing observed in any region during Q1 2025.
Methodology
This report is derived exclusively from the Stears Private Transactions Database, accessible through the Stears Data Platform. The database monitors private market activity in Africa, focusing on growth equity, private equity, private debt, infrastructure financing, and mergers and acquisitions. Transactions in the database are compiled from reliable third-party sources, including company websites, press releases, and investor reports, with each transaction independently verified by at least two separate sources..
Geographical and Sector Classifications
A single transaction may be associated with multiple countries/regions or sectors, reflecting the operational scope of the company involved. Consequently, regional and sector totals often exceed the underlying total number of transactions. As such, percentage shares in geographical and sector analyses will not sum to 100%.
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