Small steps have been taken towards greater gender diversity within the African tech startup ecosystem over the last two years, but much more needs to be done if anything close to parity is to be achieved, with funding for female-founded ventures still a major issue.
That is according to the third edition of “Diversity Dividend: Exploring Gender Equality in the African Tech Ecosystem”, the regular deep-dive into the state of gender diversity in the African startup and VC ecosystems released by Disrupt Africa in partnership with Madica, Thinkroom and Jumpstarter Crowdfunding.
The report, the first edition of which was released in 2023, contains both quantitative and qualitative data – quantifying female founders in the ecosystem, as well as their access to funding and opportunities, and speaking to them – and investors – directly about their experiences within the ecosystem. It also features personalised case studies, and is free to download here.
The latest edition finds that some progress has been made when it comes to gender diversity in African tech since the last report was released in 2024, when it comes to representation within ventures at least. A total of 641 of the more than 3,000 startups sampled for the purposes of the publication had at least one female co-founder, a share of 19.2 per cent. This was up from 17.3 per cent in 2024 and 14.6 per cent in 2023.
The percentage of African startups led by a female CEO also increased, to 12.1 per cent in 2026 from
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