By Emmanuella Opara | October 29th 2026
KEY POINTS
- African tech leaders have called on startups to build resilient business models as venture capital becomes more expensive and selective.
- African startups raised $2.2bn across 275 deals between January and August 2026, representing a 1.4 per cent increase on the same period last year.
- Early-stage funding has weakened, with the number of small investment cheques falling to its lowest level since 2021.
- NITDA plans to channel N3bn into an initiative linking local startups, investors and organisations seeking technology solutions.
- Speakers at the Moonshot Conference stressed the need for homegrown technology, stronger local investment and responsible artificial intelligence adoption.
MAIN STORY
African technology leaders have urged startups to strengthen their business models, develop homegrown solutions and rely more on local sources of capital as economic volatility and tighter venture funding put pressure on the continent’s digital economy.
The call was made at the opening of the 2026 Moonshot Conference, organised by TechCabal in Lagos on Wednesday under the theme, “Courage and Conviction”.
Speaking during the event, OPay Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer, Dotun Adekunle, said businesses operating in Nigeria needed persistence and the capacity to withstand regulatory changes, currency devaluations and public uncertainty.
In a keynote address titled “Markets That Refused to Break”, Adekunle reflected on OPay’s experience since its initial strategy sessions in Nairobi in 2018. He also recalled a false rumour in September that threatened to trigger a run on the platform.
He said businesses needed to prepare for difficult operating conditions rather than assume that markets would remain stable. He urged founders to treat regulators as partners and cooperate with other companies on security and resilience, even when competing for customers.
Adekunle also defended agency banking networks, recalling the cash shortages experienced in 2023 and describing agents as a critical part of Nigeria’s financial infrastructure.
Providing an overview of the funding environment, TechCabal Chief Executive Officer, Tomiwa Aladekomo, said African startups raised $2.2bn through 275 deals between January and August 2026. The amount represented a 1.4 per cent increase compared with the corresponding period in 2025.
However, he said the modest overall growth masked a sharper contraction in early-stage financing, with the number of small investment cheques reaching its lowest level since 2021.
According to Aladekomo, investors have become more selective, placing greater emphasis on clear routes to profitability and opportunities for corporate acquisitions. He also pointed to high-profile exits and the departure of some international companies from the region as signs of the challenges facing African markets.
The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, Dr Kashifu Abdullahi, represented by the agency’s Director of Special Duties, Dr Aristotle Onumo, said Africa needed to move beyond consuming imported technologies, including artificial intelligence and cloud services, towards creating intellectual property locally.
He highlighted NITDA’s planned Builders Festival, a corporate innovation initiative designed to connect organisations with technology problems, local startups and investors through a targeted N3bn investment pipeline.
Meanwhile, the Director of the Nigeria Country Office at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Uche Amaonwu, warned that artificial intelligence could deepen existing inequalities if its deployment did not deliberately account for equity.
The conference also featured discussions on the Nigeria AI Scaling Hub, hosted by Lagos Business School. Speakers stressed that the success of AI adoption should be measured by its practical impact on areas such as maternal health, classroom learning and agricultural productivity, rather than by the number of products launched.
Moonshot 2026 is a two-day gathering of stakeholders examining ways to mobilise domestic pension and corporate investment, expand cross-border trade infrastructure and strengthen institutions supporting African innovation.
THE ISSUES
The funding figures presented at the conference point to a difficult environment for startups seeking early-stage investment. Although total funding increased slightly in the first eight months of 2026, the decline in smaller cheques suggests that younger businesses may find it harder to secure the initial capital needed to develop products and establish operations.
The growing emphasis on profitability and acquisitions also places pressure on founders to demonstrate viable business models amid currency volatility, regulatory changes and uncertain market conditions.
Another concern is Africa’s reliance on foreign technology. Building locally developed intellectual property could help strengthen the continent’s capacity to address its own economic and social challenges, but doing so requires investment, skilled personnel and stronger connections between businesses, technology developers and investors.
The discussion around artificial intelligence raises a further challenge: adoption alone does not guarantee better outcomes. Without deliberate attention to fairness and public trust, new technologies could reinforce existing inequalities rather than improve access to services.
WHAT’S BEING SAID
“Stubbornness is a business model in Africa. If you are going to survive in Nigeria, you have to be stubborn,” Dotun Adekunle, OPay Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer, said.
“Our agents are not demons… They are actually the infrastructure that powers cash and financial inclusion in Nigeria,” Dotun Adekunle, OPay Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer, said.
“Our markets have proven a bit more complex than a lot of people expected or hoped,” Tomiwa Aladekomo, TechCabal Chief Executive Officer, said.
“No one is coming to solve our problems on the continent. We are going to solve it,” Tomiwa Aladekomo, TechCabal Chief Executive Officer, said.
“The true measure of our innovation ecosystem is not the number of startups we celebrate, but the number of sustainable enterprises it helps to create,” Dr Aristotle Onumo, Director of Special Duties at the National Information Technology Development Agency, said.
“We can’t add trust after AI has scaled. We need to build it as a condition to scale,” Anizor, speaking on the Nigeria AI Scaling Hub, said.
WHAT’S NEXT
Discussions at the two-day conference are expected to focus on unlocking local pension and corporate capital, developing cross-border trade systems and establishing institutional frameworks to support African technology companies.
NITDA’s proposed Builders Festival is expected to connect local startups with organisations seeking technology solutions and investors through its targeted N3bn investment pipeline.
The conference also places attention on how African businesses can improve their resilience, develop local intellectual property and ensure that AI adoption produces measurable benefits.
BOTTOM LINE
African tech leaders say the continent’s startups must prepare for a more demanding funding environment by building sustainable businesses, strengthening local investment and developing technology that addresses local needs. The challenge is to turn innovation into viable enterprises that can withstand economic pressure while delivering measurable benefits.
