Despite the region’s abundant resources, its entrepreneurial ecosystem still faces the same stubborn problems, which include energy insecurity, fragile food systems, and cities buckling under speedy urbanisation. 

Over 570 million people in sub-Saharan Africa still lack access to reliable electricity, while food insecurity is estimated to affect more than 220 million people. But then, funding for solutions is scarce, scattered, and often too small to move the needle.

For Mythri Sambasivan-George, founding member and chairperson of Angel Network Botswana, the path forward is not to chase every idea that ‘looks’ good, but about pooling funds, minds, and willpower around themes that can change the future. 

“Limited number of investors, with a limit on how much investable funds they have, thus, pooled or targeted thematic investments will help to truly catalyse a particular area,” she said in our conversation ahead of ABAN Congress 2025 in Lagos.

No, this is not an abstract argument, it is a pragmatic one. According to her, sector-driven or thematic investing gives angels the power to align resources with problems that matter most to the region. 

“Each thematic area will have a different horizon for returns, like food security can be super high risk given changing diseases, changing climate, poor cold chain or logistics regionally, an imperfect market system with South Africa ‘controlling’ supply into chain stores. If we are able to pool investments, then the investments can be of a size that can be regionally relevant, and not just for local consumption,” she explained.

Pooling, she argued, is not just about money. “By pooling, you not only pool funds but also expertise, networks, mindset, and willpower. Everyone is pulling in the same direction, and thus can affect real change.”

Case Studies in Sector-Specific Impact

Southern Africa has already seen how thematic bets can work. Sambasivan-George points to Botswana as a test case. The government’s solar incentives, particularly net metering, have brought forth an industry with multiple grid-scale plants. 

“In the coming 12 months, the Botswana power sector will see the impacts of all these plants coming online. Returns and impact are readily available and easy to justify with Solar,” she said.

Education is another. When Botswana liberalised its education sector in 2006 and allowed government-sponsored students into private institutions, it unlocked one of the fastest expansions in higher education enrolment in the region. “It catalysed provision and access, and also enabled some institutions to be regionally relevant,” she noted.

Most recently, Botswana’s SmartBots strategy has become a beacon for digital transformation. From a government-backed coding lab at the Botswana Digital & Innovation Hub (BDIH) to demo farms using drones and green tech for agriculture, the initiative shows how thematic focus can blend impact with commercial viability. 

“They use drones and other highly scalable technologies to de-risk agricultural business, while driving a more sustainable business model through organic and value chain empowerment,” she said.

Similar drives are underway in South Africa, Namibia, and Zambia, showing a region beginning to pivot towards coordinated, theme-led innovation.

Identifying the Right Sectors

Still, thematic investing requires clear signals for where the growth lies. But regional disunity is a challenge. “With many African economies still not working together with their neighbours, everyone is competing with each other, thus wasting resources, and ultimately, no one is growing,” she stated. 

For her, bodies like SADC should play a stronger role in promoting cross-border cooperation so investors can build companies that are regionally and globally competitive.

She believes ABAN’s role in coordinating opportunities across its nine networks in the South African economic block—from Angel Network Botswana and Namibia Business Angels Network to Jozi Angels and SABAN—is essential to this mission.

Partnerships as Catalysts

No single player can carry the weight of Southern Africa’s development. Thematic investments, she argued, need partnerships across three fronts: governments, development agencies, and private capital. “Healthcare, education, energy, and infrastructure. These 4 areas require a partnership approach at a regional level. This will enable the region to be more productive and more cohesive,” she said.

Governments, in her view, should stick to creating enabling environments with clear regulations. Development agencies must outline societal goals. Private investors then bring in the discipline of capital.

Balancing Profit and Development

There are usually worries that thematic investing might sacrifice returns for impact. Sambasivan-George sees this as a false trade-off. Transparency, accountability, and measurable impact can reconcile the two. “Transparency in deal-making—profit margins, quality metrics, production guarantees, wage expectations,” she listed, are non-negotiables.

She advocates for companies to set development milestones within clear frameworks, alongside some income guarantees to lower investment risk. Just as importantly, “SDG benchmark markers to be submitted as a part of companies’ annual reports” could make development gains as trackable as profits.

As Southern Africa prepares for the ABAN Congress 2025, Sambasivan-George’s says scattershot investing will not solve systemic problems, thematic investing will. Sustainability lies in collective, sector-driven bets that can match vision with scale. 

And if investors can align not just their money but also their intentions, Southern Africa might just prove that Africa can, indeed, fund Africa.

The post Ahead of ABAN’s 10th Anniversary, Mythri Sambasivan-George Highlights Thematic Investing as Driver of Southern Africa’s Growth appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

Between January and August, over $2 billion flowed into more than 500 deals across the continent, with the median deal size climbing to $1 million. 

The short read for African startups in 2025: capital is concentrating. A small number of large rounds, and a wave of debt instruments, are lifting totals even as deal counts remain well below the 2021 peak. If you follow winners and losers, this report gives you both the scoreboard and the pattern behind it. 

What moved the needle

A handful of headline transactions drove much of the volume. Healthtech saw a major consolidation when US-based Eargo and South Africa’s hearX merged to form LXE Hearing, then secured $100 million from Patient Square Capital. 

Fintech company Zepz raised $165 million in debt from HSBC, bringing its total capital to more than $1 billion, and South Africa’s Nedbank completed a $93 million acquisition of payments firm iKhokha. These single events changed the shape of the year. 

Cleantech also punched above its weight: persistent, large debt deals, including packages from Sun King and d.light, pushed Cleantech funding toward $950+ million for the year and raised its median check to about $5 million, higher than many other sectors. 

Fewer deals, bigger checks

The report shows deal counts are down, but checks are larger. Since the 2022 bubble, investors have leaned toward later-stage, capital-heavy businesses. Sub-$250k rounds and the $250k–$1m tier have collapsed: the latter fell from 90 deals in 2022 to just 21 in 2025. The result is a 2025 picture that looks healthier by value, but narrower by opportunity. 

Seven of the top ten companies used debt to accelerate growth, a striking indicator that lenders and development finance players are comfortable backing asset-heavy, revenue-generating models across the continent. 

Sectors and products

Fintech remains the largest sector by value, $1+ billion, and leads in deal count (115+ deals). But Cleantech’s growth is the story of the year: nearly $950+ million, largely driven by debt. Health, mobility and property tech lag in total capital but remain steady in activity. 

Top product lines tell the same tale:

• Solar energy: $830+ million (the single largest product grouping).
• Payments & transfers: $455+ million.
• Diagnostics, gas & cooking equipment, and POS solutions all appear in the top five. 

That distribution explains the debt tilt: asset-heavy, capital-intensive products (solar kits, gas equipment, etc.) are natural fits for structured lending and project finance.

Regions: East and Southern Africa surge

Geography shifted in 2025. Briter records East Africa ($865m+) and Southern Africa ($845m+) as the top-funded regions by value, while West Africa ($420m+) and North Africa ($450m+) sit behind. 

The long-time lead from West Africa, largely Nigeria-driven, has softened as billion-dollar rounds and large debt deals flow to companies headquartered in East and Southern African hubs. 

The gender gap remains glaring

I find this worrying: the recovery has not been inclusive. The report shows male-led teams capturing the vast majority of capital. Measured over the past five years, male-led teams took close to 90% of funding by value; in 2025 so far, roughly three quarters of funding has gone to primarily male-led companies. Female-led and mixed teams still receive only a sliver. 

M&A and churn

Activity on the exit front has been busy. Briter records 35+ acquisitions in 2025 to date, including high-profile buys like Meta’s purchase of Egypt’s PlayAI and Lesaka’s $60m+ acquisition of South Africa’s Bank Zero. The report also notes six company shutdowns this year, reminding us that while capital inflows are rising, risk and churn remain. 

What this means?

• Recovery yes, broad-based no. 2025 is a rebound in dollar terms, but not a broad reopening of early-stage funding. 
• Debt is mainstream. With debt crossing $1 billion for the first time, expect more structured financing for asset-centric companies. 
• Concentration risk. A small number of very large deals can create the illusion of a healthy market while nascent startups struggle. 
• Inclusion remains unfinished business. The gender imbalance and the collapse of the $250k–$1m tranche mean founders outside established networks face a tougher climb. 

Briter’s Venture Pulse gives us a simple, necessary truth among African startups in 2025: capital is back in Africa, but it’s pickier than before. If you’re building a capital-intensive product with clear revenue, 2025 is a good moment. If you’re an early-stage founder hunting sub-$1m cheques, the space is tighter and you’ll need a different playbook.

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Revealed by Africa: The Big Deal, the resurgence has been driven by a steady stream of sizeable deals in equity and debt, with June standing out as a particularly aggressive month. 

Alone, the month saw $365 million in funding, the highest monthly total in nearly a year. This pushed the monthly average for H1 to $237 million, a rise from $133 million in H1 2024 and even above the 2024 full-year average of $187 million.

But this rebound didn’t happen overnight. Of the six months in H1 2025, four crossed $250 million. Even March, which saw a steep dip, has faded from memory in the face of strong activity in both equity and debt funding.

Equity deals made up the lion’s share, reaching $950 million, up 79% year-on-year. However, it came in just below the $1.02 billion raised in the second half of 2024, showing signs of stabilisation. 

The debt market, on the other hand, had a slower start. By May, debt funding stood at $177 million, down from $255 million during the same period last year. 

Then came June, Wave’s $137 million debt round changed the game. With that and a few other sizeable deals, H1 closed with $400 million in total debt funding, matching H2 2024 and improving 55% from H1 2024.

East and West Africa painted a contrasting picture. Kenya and Senegal emerged as the strongest performers, accounting for several of the top ten deals in June. 

Senegal’s Wave led with the $137 million debt round to strengthen its mobile money infrastructure. Kenya followed closely with M-KOPA securing a $51 million loan to scale its digital financial services and PowerGen closing $50 million for clean energy expansion. 

In contrast, Nigeria, long regarded as the continent’s funding magnet, slipped noticeably. No Nigerian startup featured among the top ten fundraisers in May.

There’s also been a transition in the sectors attracting capital. Fintech still commands the largest slice of the pie, but cleantech and healthtech are no longer niche. 

Companies like Burn Manufacturing in Kenya and Wetility in South Africa raised sizeable rounds for clean energy projects. MyDawa, a Kenyan healthtech platform, secured $9.6 million to grow its digital pharmaceutical services.

Despite the strong H1 showing, total funding in H1 2025 is almost identical to H2 2024, down just 1.5%. That shows a market that may have found its ceiling, at least for now.

Still, the recovery for African startups is real. Compared to the funding drought of early 2024, what we’re seeing now is a reversal. The challenge going forward is whether this growth is sustainable, or simply the system catching its breath before the next storm.

A full breakdown is expected at the Africa: The Big Deal LinkedIn Live event on July 22. 

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