Economy
Private Debt Booms in Africa’s Startup Ecosystem in 2025—Report
By Adedapo Adesanya
Debt has emerged as a fast-growing asset class for the startup funding landscape in Africa, according to a new report by the African Private Capital Association (AVCA).
The 2025 Private Capital Activity in Africa report showed that Africa emerged as the only global region to record growth in private capital deal volume in 2025, underscoring the continent’s resilience amid a challenging global investment climate.
For startups, raising funds signals validation of their business model, market potential, and growth trajectory, while also providing the financial runway needed to scale operations, invest in innovation, and compete effectively. This can be done via a number of means, including bootstrapping, venture capital, private equity, debt financing, crowdfunding, accelerators, grants, corporate investments, initial public offerings (IPOs), and revenue-based financing, among others.
The data showed that private debt emerged as a fast-growing asset class, with deal volumes surging by 57 per cent year-on-year.
The growth was driven largely by the rising use of venture debt, positioning private debt alongside private equity and venture capital as a key financing channel in Africa.
The report put total investment at $5.1 billion, reflecting a slight dip in value but sustained investor appetite across the continent. The data showed that deal activity rose by 8 per cent year-on-year to 530 transactions, even as global deal volumes declined by 7 per cent.
IPOs also saw modest growth, with four listings completed during the year.
Domestic investors played a critical role in driving liquidity, accounting for 68 per cent of private capital acquisitions.
International investors made up the remaining 32 per cent, led by Asian strategic buyers seeking to expand their footprint in African markets.
The report highlighted a shift in strategy among fund managers, who increasingly focused on smaller mid-market deals as global financial conditions tightened.
Transactions valued between $50 million and $99 million doubled during the year, signalling a move away from larger, capital-intensive investments.
Sectoral activity remained dominated by financial services, particularly fintech, which accounted for 82 per cent of transactions within the sector.
The information sector ranked as the second most active, supporting investments across finance, healthcare, retail and logistics.
Regionally, Southern Africa maintained its position as the most active investment hub, while East and North Africa recorded strong performances, buoyed by growth in energy and information technology investments.
Africa’s exit market also showed significant improvement, with 81 exits recorded in 2025, representing a 27 per cent increase from the previous year and the second-highest level on record.
This contrasted sharply with a 15 per cent decline in global exit activity over the same period.
Trade buyers remained the dominant exit route, accounting for 38 per cent of transactions, while sponsor-to-sponsor deals reached a record 26 per cent, reflecting increased depth in the secondary market.
Despite the strong deal and exit performance, fundraising declined by 34 per cent year-on-year to $2.7 billion, mirroring global liquidity pressures.
Development finance institutions remained central to the ecosystem, contributing 64 per cent of total commitments.
However, domestic capital continued to deepen, with African institutional investors accounting for 21 per cent of commitments.
Sovereign wealth funds and pension funds led this trend, reflecting a growing shift towards locally sourced capital.
Commenting on the findings, AVCA chief executive, Mrs Abi Mustapha-Maduakor, said the data reflects a continent increasingly decoupling from global investment headwinds.
“This year’s report tells a clear story: Africa is decoupling from the global slowdown. Stronger exit performance, deeper participation from domestic institutional capital, and sustained commitments from development finance institutions all point to a maturing ecosystem,” she said.
She added that the momentum is expected to build further as investors increase exposure to sectors driving Africa’s next phase of economic transformation.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.36 per cent on Wednesday, August 19, slicing the market capitalisation of the platform by N9.41 billion to N2.60 trillion from N2.610 trillion, and reducing the NASD Security Index (NSI) by 15.67 points to 4,333.09 from 4,348.76 points.
The securities depository company lost N10.30 at midweek to close at N88.12 per share versus Tuesday’s closing price of N90.02 per share.
This offset the 38 Kobo gained by Golden Capital Plc during the session. The stock traded at N14.05 per unit compared with the preceding day’s N13.67 per unit.
Yesterday, the volume of securities soared by 557.2 per cent to 747,429 units from 113,728 units, the value of securities jumped by 934.0 per cent to N9.4 million from N375.7 million, and the number of deals increased by 35.5 per cent to 42 deals from 31 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 79.9 million units worth N5.8 billion.
GNI Plc also finished the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units transacted for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units sold for N415.7 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira weakened by N7.09 or 0.53 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Wednesday, August 19, to N1,350.41/$1 from the previous rate of N1,343.32/$1.
The local currency also significantly depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday, by N19.87, to close at N1,839.13/£1 versus the previous day’s N1,819.26/£1, and against the Euro, it lost N18.07 to end at N1,574.31/€1 versus Tuesday’s price of N1,556.24/€1.
However, at the black market, the Naira maintained stability against the US Dollar at N1,390/$1, and also remained unchanged at the GTBank forex desk at N1,357/$1.
Interbank FX turnover increased by 1.72 per cent to $370.980 million from $364.709 million, according to the daily update by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
On the other hand, the number of interbank FX deals declined to 100, from 108 the previous day, reflecting a moderate slowdown in activities.
Available data from the central bank showed that demand for FX by end-users in Nigeria fell by 35.23 per cent to $3.42 billion in April 2026, easing pressure on the Dollar market as the Naira recorded modest gains.
This occurred as FX utilisation across economic sectors declined during the month, while the Naira strengthened at the official market. Across several sectors, including oil, food, and manufacturing, there were drops.
The monthly average exchange rate improved 1.38 per cent to N1,361.22 per Dollar in April from N1,379.98/$1 in March. At the end of the review month, the domestic currency closed at N1,374.94 per Dollar at NAFEM, compared with N1,386.72/$1 at the end of March.
In the cryptocurrency market, coins recorded massive jumps following the US Treasury’s decision to at least double bond buyback operations and was reinforced by a bond-market surge and President Donald Trump’s call for Congress to advance crypto market-structure legislation.
The American President urged Congress to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, calling for “a fair version” of the market structure bill that has been stuck in the Senate.
Ethereum (ETH) surged by 18.2 per cent to $2,261.93, Solana (SOL) rose by 11.4 per cent to $85.77, Ripple (XRP) expanded by 10.5 per cent to $1.10, Bitcoin (BTC) grew by 8.6 per cent to $69,784.82, Dogecoin (DOGE) added 7.3 per cent to sell at $0.0751, Cardano (ADA) rose by 4.8 per cent to $0.1842, Binance Coin (BNB) jumped by 4.5 per cent to $628.45, and TRON (TRX) increased by 0.1 per cent to $0.3330, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Those who purchased the N40 billion bond issued by Geregu Power Plc in 2022 but did not receive payments last month as expected have reportedly now been paid by the energy company.
Geregu Power, listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, was in the news recently over the repayment default on July 28, 2026, triggering panic in the capital market.
Last week, the organisation admitted the issues caused by this default, but said, “Discussions and engagements are ongoing, and the company will continue to act in good faith in fulfilling its responsibilities.”
It further disclosed that “relevant stakeholders and advisers [are being actively engaged] regarding the resolution of the various challenges and is committed to achieving an orderly and mutually beneficial outcome.”
The latest information indicated that N6.03 billion owed investors under the firm’s N40.09 billion Series 1 Senior Unsecured Bond has been cleared.
This is expected to bring relief to investors, who may have feared the worst after the entity failed to meet its debt obligations when due.
However, on the FMDQ Securities Exchange, the status of the debt instrument remains as “credit default in the 8th coupon payment and 4th bullet principal repayment.”
As of the time of filing this report, Geregu Power has yet to confirm the clearing of the N6 billion debt.
