Summary
Highlights
Bloomberg's 2026 African Startups to Watch list highlights companies tackling urgent challenges across the continent. This year's theme, "urgency," focuses on innovators addressing infrastructure gaps and underserved populations, especially in areas like climate change, food production, and access to clean water. Unlike in the West where AI is a primary focus, African startups are solving everyday problems with scalable solutions, such as telemedicine kiosks in Chad and biochar production from weed in Somalia. The list showcases a broadening geographical spread beyond traditional tech hubs like Egypt, South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria.
The investment environment for African startups has shifted, with a greater emphasis on operational discipline and unit economics. There's a noticeable increase in African backers and a trend towards debt financing over equity, possibly due to global risks. The list includes diverse companies, such as a telemedicine provider in Chad utilizing solar-powered kiosks, and another from Somalia converting weed into biochar. This expansion signifies a positive trend for the continent's startup ecosystem, drawing attention to less traditional regions.
Moniepoint, an African fintech unicorn founded in 2015, has become a leading platform, processing $22 billion monthly across 1 billion transactions and over 80% of Nigeria's purest transactions. They've also disbursed about $1 trillion in loans to small businesses. Co-founder and CTO Felix Eke discusses the company's journey, emphasizing their focus on providing value for customers and investors, which drives their profitability, rather than solely their unicorn status. Eke is optimistic about more African unicorns emerging, especially as startups continue to create substantial value.
Jem, a Cape Town-based startup, is revolutionizing HR for deskless workers by building solutions on top of WhatsApp. CEO and co-founder Simon Ellis explains how employers can connect and communicate with their workforce via WhatsApp, enabling employees to easily access payslips, apply for leave, or manage timesheets without needing to download new apps or log into new systems. This approach leverages a familiar platform, making essential HR functions more accessible and efficient for millions of workers.
Investment into African startups remained strong in 2025, with over $5 billion invested and a 25% rise in tech sector funding to $4 billion. Funds are backing companies solving real-world problems in fintech, cleantech, and health tech. Tokunboh Ishmael of Alitheia Capital notes a shift towards more fundamentally driven, resilient growth, with African investors now accounting for 45% of funding, compared to 26% from the U.S. Andrew Firman of Kaleo Ventures discusses how international investors view Africa, emphasizing compensation for risk through attractive valuations and supporting solutions to core problems, which he believes makes them less risky than perceived.
Deaftronics, a Botswana-based startup that made Bloomberg's list, manufactures affordable, solar-powered hearing aids. CEO Tendekayi Katsiga explains that these devices are made by and for people with hearing impairments, aiming to improve lives and productivity. With 40 million people globally suffering from hearing impairment and only 10% able to afford existing solutions, Deaftronics sees a massive market and global scaling opportunities for their accessible technology.
Terra Industries, a Nigerian startup, is attracting global attention for its drone technology, addressing the asymmetric warfare against terrorism prevalent in Africa and other emerging markets. Co-founders Nathan Nwachuku and Maxwell Maduka are developing both drones and counter-drone systems, emphasizing low-cost, intelligence-centric systems capable of surviving harsh African terrains. Backed by $34 million in seed funding, Terra Industries is expanding production, with a new factory in Accra, Ghana, and plans to scale to 50,000 units within two years. They are also exploring expansion into Latin America and the Middle East, as the threats they address are increasingly transferable across emerging markets.