African Startup Funding 2025: Debt Drove 79% of Growth

Debt Drove 79% of Africa’s Startup Funding Growth in 2025

Debt appeared in just 19% of African startup deals but accounted for 41% of the money raised. Fintech and cleantech took 82% of it.

Oct 13, 2026

by Sietoyo Esitikott

Debt drove most of the rebound. Of the $800 million increase in African startup funding in 2025, about $630 million came from debt, or roughly 79% of the increase.
Fintech and cleantech dominated borrowing. Together, the two sectors raised about $1.34 billion in debt, accounting for 82% of the total tracked by Partech.
Debt deals were fewer, but much bigger. Debt made up only about 19% of deals, yet accounted for 41% of capital raised, with the average debt deal roughly three times the size of the average equity deal.

African startup funding bounced back in 2025. But if you take debt out of the picture, the recovery looks a lot less dramatic.

Tech companies on the continent raised about $4.1 billion in equity and debt last year, up from $3.25 billion in 2024, according to Partech’s 2025 Africa Tech Venture Capital Report.

Then you look at where the extra money came from. Equity rose from $2.24 billion to $2.41 billion, and debt went from $1.01 billion to $1.64 billion.

Using those figures, debt added $630 million while equity added $170 million. That means debt accounted for about 79% of the $800 million increase, based on a Techloy calculation using Partech’s published equity and debt totals.

Equity still brought in more money overall. But debt’s share of total funding rose from 31% in 2024 to 41% in 2025.

Debt drove 79% of Africa’s startup funding rebound in 2025

Debt added $630m between 2024 and 2025, compared with $170m from equity.

Equity

Debt

$3.25bn

$1.01bn

$2.24bn

2024

$4.05bn

$1.64bn

$2.41bn

2025

MORE INSIGHTS ON THIS TOPIC:

Who is borrowing?

Debt doesn't work for every startup. An investor needs some confidence that the money will come back. The sector breakdown gives a good idea of where that confidence exists.

Fintech companies raised $716 million in debt in 2025, or 44% of the total. Cleantech raised $627 million, or 38%. Together, the two sectors took 82% of all debt funding tracked by Partech. Mobility was a distant third at $150 million.