Africa’s tech ecosystem recorded 25 startup exits in the first half of 2026. That puts the continent on pace to beat the 48 exits logged in all of 2025, the highest annual total on record. The data comes from Africa: The Big Deal.
The number marks a jump from 21 exits in the same period last year. It also arrives at a tricky time. Overall startup funding on the continent shows real strain. African startups raised roughly $1.36 billion between January and June. That figure is close to the $1.44 billion raised in H1 2025. But it sits 22 percent below the $1.7 billion raised in the second half of last year. In short, the late-2025 funding rebound appears to have lost steam. Only 190 African startups raised at least $100,000 during the six months. That is the lowest count since tracking began in 2021.
Against that backdrop, the exit numbers stand out. They are one of the few clearly positive signals in the market. TechCabal Insights tracks mergers and acquisitions separately. It puts the H1 2026 figure at 63 deals overall. That is nearly double the 33 deals recorded in the same period in 2025. It also makes this the busiest half year for consolidation in African tech history. The logic is simple. Fresh equity has grown harder to find, especially for early-stage startups. So many founders and investors are choosing to sell or merge instead of shutting down.
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The biggest talking point of the half was Flutterwave’s acquisition of Nigerian open banking company Mono. The all-stock deal was reportedly valued between $25 million and $40 million. Mono had raised about $17.5 million in total funding. That included a $15 million Series A round led by Tiger Global back in 2021. The deal reportedly closed below Mono’s previous valuation of roughly $50 million. Still, early backers are said to have walked away with paper returns as high as 20 times their initial investment. Mono’s leadership has also said the deal value exceeded the startup’s total capital raised.
South Africa produced the half’s biggest transaction by value. Payments company Araxi acquired an 80 percent stake in Pay At for approximately $62 million. The deal was announced in February. Industry watchers see it as part of a broader consolidation wave reshaping South Africa’s payments sector. Infrastructure ownership now matters more than fast user growth in that market.
Nigeria’s fintech consolidation kept building. Paystack acquired Brass through an investment group that included PiggyVest, Ventures Platform, P1 Ventures, and several angel investors. Moniepoint was also busy on the acquisition trail. It expanded into Kenya by taking a majority stake in Sumac Microfinance Bank. It also absorbed the Nigerian operations of restaurant fintech Orda. Orda had raised $4.5 million but never closed a Series A round. Terms of that deal were not disclosed. Analysts say undisclosed terms often point to a modest outcome for investors.
Elsewhere, US cloud banking firm nCino acquired South African fintech DocFox for $75 million. It was one of the half’s largest cross-border deals. It also shows that global acquirers still want African fintech assets with proven infrastructure.
Not every exit told a happy story, though. A rising exit count does not always mean strong returns. Many deals were all-stock transactions. Others closed at valuations below what the startups had previously raised. Distressed sales and acqui-hires still shape the picture, even as the headline numbers improve.
Fintech kept dominating the exit landscape. It accounted for most of the half’s biggest transactions. But analysts note that other sectors are catching up. Energy, telecoms, and logistics are slowly producing more deal activity as the ecosystem matures. With the second half of the year underway, the consolidation trend looks set to continue. Scarce early-stage capital, closed IPO windows, and investor pressure for liquidity all point the same way.
