Q2 2026 Private Capital in Africa Activity Report
Analysing trends in private capital activity in Africa.
The Q2 2026 Stears Private Capital in Africa Report analyses African private market transactions for Q2 2026. 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.
Key takeaways
Transaction activity recovered quarter-on-quarter: Africa recorded 221 private market transactions in Q2 2026, up from 172 initially reported for Q1 2026 (revised to 185). Activity increased by 19% quarter-on-quarter over the revised Q1 figures, but remained below the 239 transactions recorded for Q2 2025.
Disclosed transaction value declined from Q1’s elevated base: It fell to $10.8 billion in Q2 2026, down from $16.7 billion in Q1 2026, mainly reflecting the absence of Q1’s two outlier Nigerian transactions. MTN’s $6.2 billion acquisition of IHS Holding’s Nigerian operations and the $4 billion Dangote Refinery financing.
Disclosure improved during the quarter: Value disclosure rose to 69% of transactions in Q2 2026, compared with 58% in Q1 2026 and 52% in Q2 2025. This gave the quarter a broader disclosed base, even though aggregate value was lower than Q1.
Smaller deals widened the base: Micro deals below $2.5 million accounted for 48% of disclosed transactions in Q2 2026, up from 29% in Q1 2026 and 40% in Q2 2025. Mega deals also remained visible in absolute terms, rising to 24 disclosed transactions, although their share declined slightly from Q1.
The mid-market lost share: Transactions between $2.5 million and $75 million accounted for 37% of disclosed deals in Q2 2026, down from 54% in Q1 2026 and 52% in Q2 2025, showing that the quarter’s stronger disclosed activity was concentrated more at the lower end of the market.
Financial Services led by value, but its volume dominance softened: Financial Services remained the leading sector, recording 52 transactions and $6.7 billion in disclosed value. However, its share of total activity fell from 50% in Q1 2026 to 34% in Q2 2026 as transactions spread more evenly across other sectors.
Payments infrastructure carried Financial Services value: Payments Infrastructure recorded $3.0 billion in disclosed value, while Cross-Border Payments, B2B Payments, B2C Payments and Digital Wallet Platforms each recorded $2.8 billion, highlighting the weight of payment rails and transaction infrastructure in the quarter.
Debt financing accounted for most of the disclosed value: Debt financing accounted for $6.6 billion, or 62% of total disclosed value, despite representing 28% of transaction volume. This kept banks, DFIs and institutional lenders central to the quarter’s aggregate value.
M&A activity declined from Q1: M&A accounted for 14% of recorded transactions in Q2 2026, down from 24% in Q1 2026, while disclosed M&A value fell to $2.9 billion from $6.9 billion. The decline reflects Q1’s unusually high base, particularly the MTN-IHS transaction.
West Africa led both volume and value: West Africa accounted for 39% of recorded transactions and $8.9 billion in disclosed value, with Nigeria remaining the largest country market by both deal count and disclosed value.
Overview of private capital transaction activity
Africa’s private capital market recorded stronger transaction activity in Q2 2026, with Stears tracking 221 transactions, up from 172 reported in Q1 2026 (revised to 185) and 147 recorded in Q2 2025 (revised to 239). On the revised figures, Q2 2026 activity was up 19% quarter-on-quarter, although it remained 8% below the corresponding period last year.
Transaction value disclosure also improved, with 69% of transactions reporting deal values, compared with 58% in Q1 2026 and 52% in Q2 2025. Despite the improved disclosure rate, disclosed transaction value declined to $10.8 billion from $16.7 billion in Q1 2026, while remaining significantly above the $3.3 billion recorded in Q2 2025. The quarter-on-quarter decline was largely a function of Q1’s unusually high base, when two outlier Nigerian transactions, MTN’s $6.2 billion acquisition of IHS Holding’s Nigerian operations and the $4 billion debt financing of Dangote Refinery, accounted for a substantial share of disclosed value.
Ticket Sizes: The middle market is being squeezed from both ends
Q2 2026 activity was strongest at the lower end of the disclosed ticket-size distribution. Micro deals below $2.5 million accounted for 48% of disclosed transactions, up from 29% in Q1 2026 and 39% in Q2 2025. At the other end of the market, the number of mega deals above $75 million increased to 24, compared with 19 in Q1 2026 and 10 in Q2 2025, although their share of disclosed transactions declined slightly quarter-on-quarter to 16% from 18%.
The middle of the market was less active by comparison. Transactions between $2.5 million and $75 million accounted for 37% of disclosed deals in Q2 2026, down from 54% in Q1 2026 and 52% in Q2 2025. This suggests that the quarter’s stronger disclosed deal activity did not translate evenly across ticket sizes. Larger transactions remained supported by DFIs, multilateral and institutional financing, particularly in debt and infrastructure-linked deals, while the rise in micro deals appears to reflect a greater number of small disclosed transactions captured during the quarter.
For investors assessing market depth, the important point is that Q2 2026 did not show a broad-based strengthening of the mid-market. Activity improved at the lower end and remained visible at the top end, but the middle bands were comparatively squeezed.
The Q2 2026 ticket-size distribution showed three clear movements:
Micro deals: The lower end of the market widened sharply. Micro deals below $2.5 million increased to 73 disclosed transactions, compared with 31 in Q1 2026 and 49 in Q2 2025, making them the largest ticket-size category in the quarter.
Mega deals: Large transactions remained visible, even though they were less dominant than in Q1. Deals above $75 million rose to 24 disclosed transactions, from 19 in Q1 2026 and 10 in Q2 2025, but their share of disclosed transactions declined slightly as the overall disclosed deal base expanded.
Mid-market depth: The weaker middle bands suggest that Q2 2026 did not show broad-based mid-market momentum. Activity improved at the small-ticket end and large deals remained present, but the centre of the distribution was thinner.
Venture Activity in Q2’2026
The largest venture-linked transaction captured in Q2 2026 was Factorial’s $690 million fundraise. Factorial is headquartered in Europe, with operations that extend into East Africa, and the funding will support its global operations. Within the African operating universe, Spiro stood out as the largest disclosed venture transaction, raising a combined $270 million across two transactions.
E-mobility sector: E-mobility continued to attract sizable venture funding in Q2 2026, with Spiro leading disclosed venture fundraising value after raising a combined $270 million across two transactions, comprising $215 million and $55 million. The transactions further highlight the importance of electric two-wheelers and battery-swapping infrastructure in Africa’s clean mobility transition. Dodai Group also raised $13 million from BII and other investors to scale its operations and support Ethiopia’s transition to clean mobility.
Financial technology: Fintech remained one of the more active venture themes in Q2 2026. Blnk, an Egyptian non-bank consumer finance provider, raised $37.1 million in Series A round led by Algebra Ventures, while Stitch secured $25 million in Series A funding from Andreessen Horowitz to support its cloud-native banking infrastructure platform. Lucky, another Egyptian fintech, also raised $22 million in Series B funding from DisrupTech Ventures, DPI Venture Capital and other investors. Together, these rounds point to continued investor appetite for growth-stage fintech companies.
AI investments: AI-focused companies continued to attract capital during the quarter, although African AI funding remained largely early-stage and small-ticket. AI Diagnostics, a healthtech provider, secured $5.2 million in pre-Series A funding from the Steel Foundation for Hope and other investors, while South Africa’s Refiant AI raised $5 million in seed funding from Volo Earth Ventures. By contrast, UAE-based CNTXT AI, which also serves African markets, raised a $60 million Series A round from AI71 and BlueFive Capital. The size and stage of the CNTXT AI round make it a landmark AI transaction by African standards, while also highlighting how much of Africa’s AI funding remains earlier in the capital cycle.
Mergers & Acquisitions in Q2 2026
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) remained a meaningful part of African private capital activity in Q2 2026, but at a lower level than the previous quarter. M&A represented 14% of recorded transactions, down from 24% in Q1 2026, while disclosed value declined to $2.9 billion from $6.9 billion. This decline was partly a function of Q1’s elevated base, when a small number of large acquisitions, led by MTN’s $6.2 billion acquisition of IHS Holding’s Nigerian operations, lifted the quarter’s M&A numbers.
Unlike in Q1 2026, the largest M&A transaction did not involve a native African company. It was the $2.7 billion acquisition of Payoneer, a global cross-border and SME finance platform with African operations, by a group of investors led by Nuvei Corporation. The largest disclosed Africa-native M&A transaction saw West International New Building Materials, a subsidiary of West China Cement Limited, acquire AfriSam Holdings, a South African cement company.
AI acquisitions also featured prominently during the quarter, with buyers targeting tools that could strengthen existing platforms:
BlueChip Technologies acquired YarnGPT, a Nigerian AI startup known for its text-to-speech model.
CNTXT AI acquired Actualize, an enterprise AI startup specialising in dialect-aware Arabic voice agents.
Yoco’s acquisition of Dynai.ai, an AI-native operating system for restaurants and independent businesses.
Exit Analysis: Ecosystem liquidity declined by the absence of international buyers
The second quarter of 2026 saw a low amount of full and partial exits in Africa’s private capital market, boosting ecosystem liquidity. The most notable exits were:
Infra Impact Investment Managers acquired a minority shareholding in Cape Town Biogas Ltd, giving Metier Sustainable Capital Managers a partial exit.
Marubeni Corporation acquired TiAuto Investments in its first foray into Africa’s car maintenance market, providing an exit route for The Carlyle Group.
Finergreen, a boutique investment bank focused on the energy transition, divested its African operations to the local management teams that led its growth on the continent.
RedPointe Capital acquired VoxCroft Analytics, allowing Knife Capital to fully exit its initial investment in the company. Knife Capital’s follow-on investment in VoxCroft South Africa, however, suggests a partial value-realisation strategy rather than a full withdrawal from the business.
AfricInvest began a phased exit from SIPO Holding, the Mauritius-based holding company that controls Groupe Centaures, following BluePeak Private Capital’s $16 million investment in Groupe Centaures’ operations.
Overall, Q2 2026 was a very weak quarter for exits. Only seven exits were recorded during the quarter, the lowest quarterly exit count since Q4 2022, when five exits were recorded. This was a sharp decline from the stronger exit period in 2025, when exit activity was generally in the high teens to low thirties and peaked at 32 exits in Q4 2025.
The weakness in exit activity was reflected in the Stears-Ventures Platform Liquidity Index (SVL Index), a proprietary gauge of ecosystem liquidity that measures the rate of exits alongside variables such as buyer diversity and exit routes. The SVL Index fell to 82.46 in Q2 2026, below the average score of 100 and down from 114.37 in Q1 2026. The main driver of the decline was the sharp fall in recorded exit volume, rather than a broad deterioration across all liquidity indicators.
This means that the Q2 2026 reading should be interpreted as a reflection of the exits currently captured in the Stears Private Transactions Database. Reporting lags may lead to additional exits being added over time, but based on currently recorded transactions, the quarter points to a quieter exit environment and weaker platform liquidity than in recent quarters.
Q2 2026 Investor League Table
Programme-style development institutions led investor activity in Q2 2026, with the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD) and the Islamic Development Bank ranking joint-first with 36 transactions each, followed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with 19 transactions.
Their prominence during the quarter was driven by the Tadamon Accelerator for Food Security, a grant programme funded by IsDB and ISFD and implemented by UNDP. Rather than reflecting large balance-sheet investments, the high transaction counts stemmed from numerous small grant awards to organisations working across the food security value chain. This helped lift the lower end of the market, especially as micro deals below $2.5 million accounted for nearly half of disclosed transactions in the quarter.
The quarter’s disclosed value was concentrated among banks, DFIs and institutional lenders. Standard Bank Group recorded seven transactions with $1.7 billion in disclosed value, including large ticket transactions like a $855 million co-investment in Liquid Intelligent Technologies, a $175 million investment in Wilderness Holdings and an $86 million co-investment in South Africa’s Traxtion’s operations alongside Stanlib Infrastructure Investment and Harith InfraCo.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) also participated in five transactions worth $966 million, and the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) participated in five transactions worth $636 million. ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), Rand Merchant Bank, Ninety One and The Mauritius Commercial Bank were also prominent in the debt league table, showing how larger financing institutions shaped the quarter’s aggregate value.
Beyond these larger institutional financiers, venture and growth-stage activity remained more fragmented, with investors such as Edge Growth Ventures, Cascador Entrepreneurial & Leadership Initiative, Madica Ventures, Flourish Ventures, Norrsken22, DisrupTech Ventures and Algebra Ventures appearing across smaller equity transactions.
Q2 2026 Sectoral Insights
Financial Services remained the most active sector in Q2 2026, recording 52 transactions, although its lead narrowed from the previous quarter. Industrials, Energy & Utilities, Consumer Discretionary and Information Technology completed the dominant five, which together accounted for 181 transactions, or 82% of total deal activity. This was lower than the 85% recorded in Q1 2026, suggesting that activity remained concentrated in familiar sectors, but with a slightly wider spread than at the start of the year.
Just like Q1, Financial Services sub-sectors led the way again on a sub-sector basis, with Payments Infrastructure accounting for $3.0 billion, equivalent to 28% of total disclosed transaction value in the quarter, while Cross-Border Payments, B2B Payments, B2C Payments and Digital Wallet Platforms each recorded $2.8 billion, or 26% of total disclosed value. Please note that these figures should not be added together because one transaction can be tagged across more than one sub-sector, but they show how much of Q2’s Financial Services activity was tied to payment rails and transaction infrastructure.
Beyond financial services, telecom infrastructure and utility-scale solar were among the more active sub-sector themes in Q2 2026. Liquid Intelligent Technologies (Mauritius) and Project BRIDGE (Nigeria) secured investments in telecom infrastructure, while Axian Energy (Senegal) and a solar PV project (South Africa) attracted capital in utility-scale solar.
Transaction types across sectors
Across sectors, equity investment remained the most common transaction type in Q2 2026, leading activity in most sectors, including Financial Services (54%), Industrials (60%), Agriculture (62%) and Information Technology (68%). When compared with Q1 2026, the main shift was in Energy & Utilities, where equity investment overtook debt financing as the leading transaction type, accounting for 52% of sector transactions compared with 57% debt-led activity in the previous quarter. On a year on year basis, Agriculture changed more significantly, moving from a heavily debt-led sector, with debt financing accounting for 69% of transactions in Q2 2025, to an investment-led sector in Q2 2026. Communication Services and Materials were the main exceptions in Q2 2026, with debt financing accounting for 80% and 57% of sector transactions, respectively.
M&A activity shifted slightly from the Q1 pattern. In Q1 2026, M&A transactions were most prominent in Communication Services (31%) and Industrials (30%), but in Q2 2026, the highest M&A concentration was in Information Technology (36%), followed by Communication Services (20%). Notable deals included Foodics’ acquisition of Norma AI, an artificial intelligence and data intelligence company built for the hospitality and restaurant industry, as well as Spiro’s acquisition of Coexlion, a UK-based engineering firm, to enhance Spiro's product development, engineering, and localisation capabilities.
Exits also became less concentrated than in the previous quarter. Agriculture stood out in Q1 2026, with exits appearing in 30% of recorded sector transactions, but no Agriculture exits were recorded in Q2 2026. Instead, exits were most visible in Industrials (10%), Information Technology (8%) and Consumer Discretionary (6%). A key example is Beltone Venture Capital and Citadel International Holdings exit from Bosta, an Egyptian logistics startup. The transaction represents the second exit from Beltone and Citadel’s collaborative fund and generated a 75% internal rate of return for the joint fund.
Regional Dynamics
West Africa retained its lead in Q2 2026, accounting for 39% of recorded transactions. East Africa ranked second, supported by continued activity in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda, while Southern Africa followed in third. North Africa fell to fourth after ranking third in Q1 2026, despite Egypt remaining one of the continent’s most active single-country markets. In value terms, West Africa also led with $8.9 billion in disclosed value, ahead of Southern Africa ($7.8 billion), East Africa ($7.7 billion) and North Africa ($6.5 billion).
In terms of country trends within regions:
Central Africa: Activity was concentrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Cameroon, which appeared in 56% and 44% of Central African transactions respectively. Both markets were largely tied to multi-country activity, with no single-country DRC transactions and only one single-country transaction in Cameroon: Delta40's Investment in Eyango Food's Operations. This reinforces Central Africa’s usual pattern, where regional exposure is often captured through companies or projects with cross-border operations. However, regional activity was not limited to Kenya, with Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda also featuring prominently at 37%, 29% and 28% of East African transactions, respectively. Kenya’s low single-country share of 16% also suggests that much of its activity came through companies with wider regional operations rather than purely domestic transactions. One of the single-country deals is Proparco’s investment in Tibu Health’s operations.
Southern Africa: South Africa continued to dominate Southern Africa, accounting for 38 transactions, or 69% of regional activity. Zambia remained the next most active market with 17 transactions, equivalent to 31% of the regional total. However, South Africa’s single-country share was lower than in Q2 2025, suggesting that regional and multi-country deals played a larger role in the quarter’s Southern African activity.
West Africa: Nigeria was the clear regional leader, recording 63 transactions, or 73% of West African activity. Ghana and Senegal followed at 27% and 21% respectively, while Côte d’Ivoire appeared in 14% of regional transactions. Nigeria also carried the region’s value profile, with $8.0 billion in disclosed value out of West Africa’s $8.9 billion total. A notable single-country deal was Africa Finance Corporation extending a $600 million loan facility to Dangote Group’s Greenview Fertiliser Corp.
North Africa: Egypt remained the centre of North African activity, accounting for 37 transactions, or 73% of the regional total. It also had the strongest single-country concentration among the major markets, with 25 single-country transactions, representing 68% of Egypt-linked activity. Morocco followed with nine transactions, but the gap between both markets shows that North Africa’s Q2 2026 activity was still largely Egypt-led.
Q2 2026 Country Insights
Nigeria continued to lead overall transaction activity in Q2 2026, accounting for 29% of total recorded transactions with 63 deals, ahead of Kenya at 20%, South Africa at 17% and Egypt at 17%. Egypt, however, stood out for single-country activity, with 25 Egypt-only transactions, accounting for 68% of its total country-linked deal count. Nigeria recorded the highest number of single-country deals at 32, representing 51% of its total activity, compared with South Africa at 39% and Kenya at 16%. The pattern suggests that Egypt’s activity was more domestically concentrated, while Kenya’s deal count was more heavily tied to regional or multi-country platforms.
Overall, the Big Five, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Egypt and Ghana, remained the main country markets for African private capital, although the composition of activity differed across them. Kenya and Ghana both recorded sizable total deal counts, but much of their activity was tied to multi-country businesses or regional platforms rather than purely domestic transactions. In Kenya, this included the aforementioned $215 million investment in Spiro and Apis Partners and Aspirity Partners’ $175 million investment in Paymentology. Ghana showed a similar pattern, with activity linked to transactions such as Triple Jump’s $8 million debt investment in Metro Africa Xpress (MAX) e-mobility operations. Egypt was the opposite: fewer transactions than Nigeria and Kenya overall, but a much higher single-country concentration, supported by transactions such as EBRD’s $12 million debt investment in Valu and the LVP Pharma investment in Rameda. Nigeria sat between both patterns, combining the continent’s largest deal count with the highest disclosed value, at $8.0 billion, supported by transactions such as EBID’s $268 million loan to Taraba State (Nigeria) for industrial, agricultural and energy projects and Konga’s $2.7 million investment in Stabyl.
Transaction Types across regions
Equity investment was the leading transaction type across all regions in Q2 2026, but the depth of debt activity varied. Central Africa remained the most debt-heavy region, with debt financing appearing in 40% of regional transactions, followed by West Africa at 35%. West Africa also accounted for the largest share of the continent’s debt activity, contributing 30 of the 61 recorded debt transactions in the quarter.
M&A activity was most prominent in Southern Africa, where it appeared in 20% of regional transactions, followed by East Africa at 15% and North Africa at 14%. Southern Africa also contributed the largest share of M&A transactions on the continent, accounting for 11 of the 30 recorded M&A deals, while East Africa followed with 10. Notable transactions included Mediterrania Capital Partners’ agreement to fully acquire Amcor Flexibles Mohammedia and CapitalSage Vantage Limited’s acquisition of Chi Technologies.
Exits were limited across all regions in Q2 2026. Southern Africa recorded the highest exit concentration, with exits appearing in 7% of regional transactions. Central Africa followed at 4%, while East Africa, West Africa and North Africa recorded lower exit concentrations of 3%, 2% and 2% respectively. In absolute terms, Southern Africa also led with four recorded exits, while West Africa and East Africa recorded two each. North Africa and Central Africa each recorded one exit.
Sectoral trends across regions
Analysis of sectoral transaction activity across regions shows that Financial Services remained the most widely represented sector in Q2 2026, although its dominance was less uniform than in Q1. The sector led activity in West Africa, East Africa, North Africa and Central Africa, while Energy & Utilities took the top position in Southern Africa. Further down the regional rankings, several sectors stood out for either their regional concentration or their contribution to continental sector activity.
Southern Africa: Energy & Utilities was the leading sector in Southern Africa, recording 15 transactions, or 27% of regional activity. Southern African Energy & Utilities deals also accounted for 46% of all Energy & Utilities transactions on the continent, making the region the largest contributor to the sector in Q2 2026. This included:
AfDB’s $150 million investment in the 100MW Floating Solar Project in Mozambique which aims to establish a hybrid solar-hydro power system to enhance clean energy supply and energy security for the nation.
FMO’s $40 million debt investment in Solar Century Africa to refinance renewable energy assets already developed by Solar Century Power and support future solar assets through a mini-perm structure.
BII’s $20 million senior debt commitment in Anzana Electric Group.
Financial Services followed with 13 transactions, while Industrials recorded nine including Norrsken 22 and partners’ $2.65 million investment in Shiprazor and Growth Investment Partners’ $2 million long-term investment in Heavy Duty Cargo Trucking in Zambia.
East Africa: Financial Services remained the leading sector in East Africa, with 21 transactions, equivalent to 31% of regional activity and 40% of all Financial Services deals on the continent. Industrials also stood out, with 16 transactions, representing 24% of East African activity and 40% of all Industrials deals. Consumer Discretionary was another visible sector in the region, supported by transactions such as BII and partners’ investment in Dodai’s e-mobility operations and IFC’s long-term loan in Groupe Talys Madagascar.
West Africa: Financial Services was most concentrated in West Africa, where the sector recorded 33 transactions. This represented 38% of West African activity and 64% of all Financial Services transactions in Q2 2026. Nigeria remained central to this, supported by activity across payments, lending and other financial infrastructure. Industrials also featured strongly, with 19 transactions, while Energy & Utilities and Agriculture each recorded 11 and eight transactions, respectively.
North Africa: Financial Services also led North African activity, with 17 transactions, but the region had a more balanced sector mix than in Q1. Consumer Discretionary followed with 11 transactions, while Industrials and Information Technology each recorded seven. Egypt remained the main anchor of North African activity, with transactions such as Al Ahly Capital's investment in MNT-Halan's operations and Emkan Capital and Partners' $12 million Series A investment in Aumet, helping sustain its single-country concentration.
Central Africa: Financial Services led Central Africa with nine transactions, narrowly ahead of Industrials with seven. Given Central Africa’s smaller overall deal base, this still translated into a meaningful concentration, with Financial Services accounting for 36% of regional activity and Industrials accounting for 28%. Agriculture, Energy & Utilities, Communication Services and Materials also featured, but at lower volumes.
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.
Historical figures may be revised as additional transactions are verified or as previously undisclosed transaction details become available.
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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