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The mismatch is hard to ignore: Africa accounts for 18% of the global population and 5% of GDP, yet attracted just 0.6% of global venture capital (VC) in 2024. While funding rose from $1.4 billion in 2019 to a peak of $4.6 billion in 2022, it fell sharply to $1.5 billion last year.

Over the same period, the number of active VC investors dropped from more than 1,000 to just over 500, and only 188 startups raised capital in 2024, compared to 353 at the peak in 2022 and a base of 117 in 2019.

This is not just a cyclical slowdown; it reflects deeper structural constraints in how capital is accessed, allocated, and scaled across the continent. It invites a rethink of the role of venture capital in Africa — a sector that holds the potential to catalyse transformative change, but only if it evolves to meet African realities.

We have highlighted four key areas to consider:

1. VCs will need to have boots-on-the-ground experience

Global models often assume mature infrastructure and high consumer liquidity and, in return, demand a “grow-at-all-costs” trajectory. Yet these conditions are not consistently present across African markets.

As an example, the African Development Bank estimates the continent’s annual financing gap for structural transformation at more than $400 billion. These gaps require a rethinking of how capital is deployed — with strategies rooted in sustainable growth, contextual insight, and business resilience that enable startups to thrive amid real-world constraints.

The role of VCs with Africa experience, grounded in the lived realities of the markets they serve, becomes indispensable.

2. African startups build ecosystems, not just products

A critical mindset shift is recognising that in Africa, startups are not just building products — they are building ecosystems. By addressing consumer needs, they also fill infrastructure gaps.

In this context, the role of venture capital is not just to fund innovation, but to support the systems that innovation depends on. This makes African VCs patient ecosystem builders; this is especially true in foundational sectors with deep structural barriers like fintech, logistics, and energy, which together accounted for 80% of Africa’s VC funding in 2024.

3. Diversification is needed as VC is underpenetrated and too concentrated

Yet even as startups take on the work of building ecosystems, a critical structural gap persists: the capital needed to scale them remains out of reach for many. While seed funding has grown in recent years, follow-on capital — from Series A onwards — remains scarce.

The data illustrates this imbalance: in 2024, the top ten investments accounted for 51% of total deal value, and just 28 startups absorbed nearly half of all VC funding on the continent between 2019 and 2024.

Geographically, 84% of 2024’s VC funding went to only four countries: Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, and Egypt. Without more sustained growth-stage financing and long-term commitment, many ventures that have proven viable and impactful risk stalling before they scale — or even worse, failing due to a lack of financing.

4. More funding is needed, and it can and must come from the continent

But allocation is only part of the equation. Africa must mobilise its domestic capital base to align with the specific needs of the continent.

The Africa Finance Corporation recently noted that an estimated $4 trillion is held by domestic institutions such as pension funds — capital that could be redirected toward critical infrastructure and enterprise development. Ghana’s new policy mandating that 5% of pension fund assets be allocated to venture capital and private equity, amounting to approximately $300 million annually, offers a concrete example of how local capital can play a catalytic role.

Projections show Africa’s population will grow from around 1.5 billion today to approximately 3.8 billion by 2100, representing nearly 40% of the world’s population. The choices made today about how we fund, scale, and support innovation on the continent will shape not just Africa’s future, but the future of global markets, labour forces, and growth trajectories.

We just cannot afford for venture capital in Africa to be an afterthought given its crucial role in the private sector.

• The global skills competition for Hyundai Motor Company’s top technicians has been held biannually since 1995
• 75 participants from 50 countries from around the world, gathered at the Global Learning Center in Cheonan, Korea from October 20–23
• Technicians were evaluated through written and practical tests in three categories: internal combustion engine vehicles, electric vehicles and commercial vehicles

SEOUL, October 23, 2025 – Hyundai Motor Company hosted the 15th World Skill Olympics from October 20 to 23 at the Global Learning Center (GLC) in Cheonan, South Korea, bringing together technicians from around the world to demonstrate their skills in a structured competition. 

The company’s World Skill Olympics, began in 1995, takes place every two years. It serves as a platform for Hyundai Motor technicians worldwide to demonstrate their skills and exchange technical knowledge. 

This year’s competition featured 75 outstanding technicians from 50 countries, who earned their spots through regional qualifiers. Participants included representatives from regions, such as Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and Southeast Asia. 

Hyundai Motor conducted evaluations in three categories: internal combustion engine vehicles, electric vehicles, and commercial vehicles.  

Notably, beginning with the last competition, Hyundai Motor introduced virtual reality (VR) assessments, enabling the safe evaluation of challenging, high-risk maintenance tasks in realistic environments. The company plans to actively use the evaluation data gathered from this competition for future technician training programs. 

On the final day, Hyundai Motor hosted an awards ceremony to honor the top performers in each category. The top three participants from each discipline received gold, silver and bronze trophies, along with cash prizes.  

The overall winner of the competition, Mr. Dovydas Cole from the United States, achieved the highest score among all participants. 

In addition, this year’s awards ceremony featured a congratulatory video message from José Muñoz, President and CEO of Hyundai Motor Company, marking the successful conclusion of the 15th World Skill Olympics and recognizing the efforts of all the participating technicians. 

Going forward, Hyundai Motor plans to encourage the growth of regional competitions to further enhance the technical skills of its global technicians and foster pride among its workforces.

 

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About Hyundai Motor Company
Established in 1967, Hyundai Motor Company is present in over 200 countries with more than 120,000 employees dedicated to tackling real-world mobility challenges around the globe. Based on the brand vision ‘Progress for Humanity,’ Hyundai Motor is accelerating its transformation into a Smart Mobility Solution Provider. The company invests in advanced technologies such as robotics and Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) to bring about revolutionary mobility solutions while pursuing open innovation to introduce future mobility services. In pursuit of a sustainable future for the world, Hyundai will continue its efforts to introduce zero-emission vehicles with industry-leading hydrogen fuel cell and EV technologies.

More information about Hyundai Motor and its products can be found at: https://www.hyundai.com/worldwide/en/ or Newsroom: Media Hub by Hyundai

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Jihyun Park
Global PR Team / Hyundai Motor Company
pjh85@hyundai.com