Baby steps have been taken towards greater gender diversity within the African tech startup ecosystem, but much more needs to be done if anything close to parity is to be achieved, according to a new report released by Disrupt Africa in partnership with Africa-focused pre-seed investment programme Madica.
Since launching its research arm in 2016, Disrupt Africa has built up a significant portfolio of publications, most notably the African Tech Startups Funding Report, Finnovating for Africa, and deep-dives into various leading startup ecosystems, available free for all via open-sourcing initiatives with various partners across the continent’s tech ecosystem.
Its latest report, the company’s 24th in total, is the second edition of “Diversity Dividend: Exploring Gender Equality in the African Tech Ecosystem”, Disrupt Africa’s annual deep-dive into the state of gender diversity in the African startup and venture capital ecosystems.
The report, the first edition of which was released last year, contains both quantitative and qualitative data – quantifying female founders and VCs in the ecosystem, as well as their access to funding and opportunities, and polling them directly about their experiences within the ecosystem. It also features personalised case studies.
Disrupt Africa has tracked measurable progress from a gender diversity perspective over the last 12 months, yet what has been achieved can still only be characterised as “baby steps” given the significant disadvantage women face within the ecosystem.
Of 2,600 African tech startups studied for the purposes of the publication, just 17.3 per cent had at least one female co-founder, and 11.1 per cent had a female CEO. These figures are by no means high enough, but do nonetheless reveal progress since the first edition, when 14.6 per cent had a female on the founding team and just 9.6 per cent were led by a woman CEO.
There has also been progress on the funding front, though by no means enough. The percentage of total African tech funding raised by ventures with at least one female co-founder increased to 16.6 per cent in 2023 from 9.3 per cent in 2022. Meanwhile, the share of funding raised by female-led startups was up to 8.2 per cent in 2023 from 2.8 per cent from the year before.
“This second edition of our pioneering research publication, “Diversity Dividend”, tracks small but nonetheless significant steps towards a more gender diverse African startup ecosystem, but more needs to be done to ensure the sector more quickly towards the gender parity it needs to really scale and succeed. We thank our partners for helping us to get this vital publication out there, and look forward to continuing to track developments over the coming years,” said Gabriella Mulligan, co-founder of Disrupt Africa.
Those partners were once again led by Madica, an Africa-focused pre-seed investment programme dedicated to empowering underrepresented and underfunded mission-driven founders.
“At Madica, we are staunch advocates for the need and also the transformative impact of diversity, integrating it into the fabric of our organisation and operations. As we continue to champion successful women in tech, making admirable examples of them, we hope it creates a ripple effect and point of reference for the entire industry and also inspires young women to venture and succeed in the industry,” said Emmanuel Adegboye, head of Madica.
Other partners include leading impact investing firm Goodwell Investments; SAIS powered by GIZ; a company development and accelerator programme project focused on the agriculture, food, climate and livestock sectors implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministery for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ); and the International Trade Centre’s NTF V programme.
Nico Blaauw, partner at Goodwell Investments, said there was a long tradition of female entrepreneurship in Africa, yet somehow that has not yet translated into the startup scene, where there is still a huge imbalance in gender diversity.
“We’re excited to work with Disrupt Africa to uncover some of the underlying reasons for this disparity, and explore how we, as investors, can play a greater role in achieving gender equality,” he said.
Michel Bernhardt, head of programme at SAIS, said women were the central pillar of agriculture in many African countries, yet startup innovation on the continent remained a male-dominated field.
“It is important to support more female founders and innovators. Their numbers are growing, but there could and should be more, so that they can develop, test and deploy innovations and technologies that help women in agriculture in Africa to improve their livelihoods,” he said. “To do so, understanding the linkages between gender, agriculture and startup innovations is crucial, in order to inspire action and change. Therefore, we are very happy to work together with Disrupt Africa on their new report on gender equality.”
To download the report for free, please go here, or email Gabriella on gabriella@disruptafrica.com, or Tom on tom@disruptafrica.com.
About Disrupt Africa
Disrupt Africa is the one-stop-shop for all news, information and commentary pertaining to the continent’s tech startup – and investment – ecosystem. With journalists roaming the continent to find, meet, and interview the most innovative and disruptive tech startups, Disrupt Africa is a true showcase of Africa’s most promising businesses and business ideas. Its research arm releases in-depth reports on various aspects of the African tech startup ecosystem. Details here.
About Madica
Launched in 2022, Madica is an Africa-focused pre-seed investment program dedicated to empowering underrepresented and underfunded mission-driven founders. Affiliated with Flourish Ventures, our sector-agnostic platform seeks to democratise access to funding and world-class company-building support.
About Goodwell Investments
Goodwell Investments is a pioneering impact investment firm focused on inclusive growth in sectors providing basic goods and services and income generation opportunities to underserved communities in Africa and India. The firm provides early-stage equity to high growth, high impact businesses. With teams in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and the Netherlands and a track record of over fifteen years, Goodwell demonstrates the ability to simultaneously deliver significant social impact and strong financial returns. Since 2009, Goodwell has partnered with Alitheia Capital to identify and manage investments in West Africa, including uMunthu II – Goodwell’s latest EUR150 million fund.
About SAIS powered by GIZ
SAIS ‘’Scaling digital Agriculture Innovations through Start-ups’’ is a project implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministery for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). We are a company development and accelerator programme for African tech start-ups in the agriculture, food, climate, and livestock sectors. Through our one-year long Investment Readiness Programme (IRP) we offer start-ups which develop innovative solutions in these sectors tailor-made support to grow their businesses and link-up with investors. To promote gender equality and highlight women entrepreneurs in this ecosystem, we have launched a number of initiatives including the Female Founder Award to recognise bold, successful women who are developing innovative solutions that have a positive impact on women’s empowerment.
About ITC’s NTF V Programme
The International Trade Centre’s Netherlands Trust Fund V (NTF V) is a 4-year partnership (July 2021- June 2025) funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Netherlands and implemented the International Trade Centre to support micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the digital technologies and agribusiness sectors. The programme includes both sectors in Ethiopia, Ghana, Senegal, and the digital technologies sector in a multi-country project in Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali and Uganda.
