Africa’s tech ecosystem spent much of the past two years clawing its way out of a ‘funding winter.’ In 2025, it finally stood upright again. Startups on the continent raised over $3 billion, according to funding tracker, Africa: The Big Deal, the highest annual total since the zero-interest-rate era ended in 2022. Investors returned selectively

For Africa’s tech ecosystem, 2025 was marked by a cautious yet tangible recovery, with funding reaching $3 billion and a record-breaking wave of consolidation. It was the year LemFi and Stitch snapped up smaller players to fortify their infrastructure, while Chowdeck aggressively redrew the logistics map. We watched as the narrative shifted from “who raised

Pollution from textile production—dyes, chemicals, and heavy metals like lead and cadmium—is common...

In 2025, we published 37 editions of the Digital Nomads column. We spoke to diasporan African professionals across tech, finance, law, privacy, venture capital, and a growing class of location-independent workers who move frequently. The internet often describes the world as a ‘global village.’ In practice, borders are less fluid, limiting movement for many in

When Nigeria’s currency began stabilising this year after months of volatility, many observers were cautious about calling it a turning point. But for Itana, a privately-run digital special economic zone designed to attract tech startups, services companies, and foreign investors, the shift became a timely catalyst for investor commitment. “Once someone decides to come into

It starts with a small, unsettling thought that refuses to go away: What if the bike you ride every day isn’t really yours? That question is what lit the fuse around Spiro, the electric motorbike company that has expanded quickly across 27 regions in Kenya. For many riders, Spiro bikes promised a way out of

A lot of money moved through Africa’s tech ecosystem in 2025, with total fundraising rising 33% to $3 billion. Companies raised rounds, acquisitions closed, and investors who had spent the previous two years sitting on their hands began writing cheques again. But alongside those successes was a quieter list of deals that never made it

It's been a busy and productive year here at MIT Technology Review. We...

Startups On Our Radar spotlights African startups solving African challenges with innovation. In our previous edition , we featured five game-changing startups pioneering software development, fintech, education, and artificial intelligence. Expect the next dispatch on January 2, 2026. This week, we explore five African startups in the agritech, fintech, HRTech, cleantech, and artificial intelligence sectors

It’s getting harder to beat the heat. During the summer of 2025, heat...

Across Africa, 2025 added new scale and texture to an already active tech ecosystem. Long-running conferences returned with bigger ambitions, while newer festivals carved out space for focused conversations around artificial intelligence (AI), data, policy, and startup growth. From government-backed summits outlining national digital strategies to developer-led gatherings exploring frontier tools, tech conversations moved fluidly

If the past 12 months have taught us anything, it’s that the AI...