African Women Co-Found More Startups, But Their Funding Share Is Shrinking

African tech startups are adding more women to their founding teams, but the funding flowing to those ventures is moving in the opposite direction. The gap between representation gains and capital access is widening, according to the third edition of the Diversity Dividend: Exploring Gender Equality in the African Tech Ecosystem report, released by Disrupt Africa in partnership with Madica, Thinkroom, and Jumpstarter Crowdfunding.

The report sampled more than 3,000 startups in 2026. It found that 19.2% had at least one female co-founder, up from 17.3% in 2024. The share of startups led by a female CEO climbed to 12.1%, compared with 11.1% in 2024 and 9.6% in 2023. Progress is real, but slow.

Which Countries And Sectors Lead On Gender Diversity

Zambia topped the continent with 29% of startups having at least one female co-founder. Uganda followed at 25%, with Kenya and Senegal tied at 23.6%, Rwanda at 22.4%, and Nigeria at 22%. On female CEO representation, Zambia again led at 22.6%, followed by Kenya at 16.7% and Ghana at 15.2%.

Sector performance varied sharply. Legal tech had the highest share of female co-founders at 31.3%, with 25% of companies in that sector also having a female CEO. E-health and edtech also performed well, each exceeding 27% for female co-founders and surpassing 18% for female CEOs.

Fintech, the dominant vertical by startup count and investment volume, lagged behind. Only 16.5% of fintech ventures had a female co-founder, and just 8.9% had a woman CEO. Given how much capital concentrates in fintech, that gap carries outsized consequences for women seeking funding.

Funding For Women-Led Startups Has Fallen Since 2023

The report identifies a clear reversal in funding trends. Up until 2023, capital flowing to female-led or co-founded startups had been slowly increasing. Since then, it has declined.

In 2024, only 18.5% of funded startups had a woman on their founding team, down sharply from 26.3% in 2023. Startups with a female CEO made up just 12.5% of funded deals, compared with 15.3% the year prior. In 2025, the numbers fell further: 16.9% of funded startups had a female co-founder, and only 9.6% were led by a woman. This pattern mirrors a broader structural problem documented in research on female founders globally, where representation gains rarely translate into proportional capital access.

Programs designed to close this gap are emerging. New accelerators and funding vehicles are targeting women-led startups in tech, though the gap between available capital and demonstrated need remains significant. For context on how some founders are navigating structural barriers to capital, see reporting on funding programs for women in tech.

A Widening Gap Between Presence And Capital

The report’s core finding is a split trend. More women are co-founding African tech companies than at any point in the study’s history. At the same time, the share of funding reaching those companies is shrinking. The report states that “much more needs to be done if anything close to parity is to be achieved,” pointing specifically to funding as the primary obstacle.

The concentration of investment in fintech compounds the problem. Because fintech attracts the most capital and has among the lowest female-founder rates, women are systematically underrepresented where money is most likely to move. Understanding how the VC funding gap persists for women helps explain why headcount gains at the co-founder level have not yet produced proportional funding outcomes.

Unless capital allocation changes course, the modest leadership gains documented in the 2026 report will remain disconnected from the resources needed to scale the ventures those leaders are building.