Africa Start-up Funding: Female CEOs Face Record Low Funding in 2024

The year 2024 brought alarming news for gender representation in African start-up funding. Female-led and female-founded ventures experienced their worst year since 2019, with funding levels plummeting to historic lows and the gender gap widening significantly.

Report by Africa: The Big Deal, revealed that Female CEOs secured just $48 million in start-up funding in 2024 (excluding exits), marking a dramatic decline—over four times less than in 2023. In stark contrast, their male counterparts raised nearly $2.2 billion during the same period. The share of total funding going to female CEOs fell to an unprecedented 2%, the lowest percentage ever recorded since data collection began.

In absolute terms, 2024 represented a regression to levels not seen since 2020. Moreover, the number of top-funded start-ups with female CEOs has shrunk further; only three of the 100 most-funded African start-ups since 2019 now have female CEOs.

 Last year, only $123m went to gender-diverse founding teams, and $21m to solo female founders or all-female founding teams. In comparison, solo male founders raised $430m and all-male founding teams $1.6b. The gap is even more striking if we look at percentages: 1% for solo female founders or all-female founding teams; 5.5% for gender-diverse founding teams; and 95.5% for solo male founders or all-male founding teams. In other words, 99% of the funding was invested in start-ups with at least a male founder, vs. 6.5% in start-ups with at least a female founder.

This disparity becomes even more pronounced when looking at broader percentages: start-ups with at least one male founder claimed 99% of total funding, while those with at least one female founder accounted for just 6.5%.

A Concerning Trend

The 2024 statistics highlight a deepening gender divide in African start-up funding. These figures not only reveal the systemic challenges facing female entrepreneurs but also point to a missed opportunity for greater innovation and diversity within the ecosystem.

The Road Ahead

The sharp decline in funding for female CEOs and founders underscores the need for urgent action to address gender imbalances in the start-up ecosystem. Key stakeholders, including investors, accelerators, and policymakers, must prioritize initiatives to bridge the gap. These could include:

• Establishing gender equity-focused investment strategies.
• Creating mentorship and leadership programs for women entrepreneurs.
• Actively promoting female representation in key decision-making roles.

Conclusion

The state of gender representation in African start-up funding reached a distressing low in 2024. Reversing this trend requires collective effort and systemic change. If the ecosystem is to thrive and deliver equitable growth, ensuring that female entrepreneurs receive the recognition, support, and funding they deserve must become a top priority.