African blockchain ventures outperform broader African VC landscape - report finds

African blockchain ventures outperformed the broader African venture capital (VC) landscape, according to the 2024 African Blockchain Report, published in association with Absa, released on Wednesday.

Despite capital headwinds, blockchain maintained or gained share in Africa’s venture market. Year on year, blockchain-focused VC funding and deal volume in Africa outpaced all-sector venture capital on the continent, while higher median deal sizes underscored concentrated investor confidence in well-positioned early-stage blockchain ventures.

African blockchain ventures outperformed the broader African VC landscape. The sector captured 7.4% of VC capital and 12.7% of deals, up from 7.0% and 7.3%, respectively, in 2023.

However, while global VC funding rebounded modestly, Africa’s share continued to contract.

Global annual venture funding totaled $378.8 billion (R6.7 trillion) across 23 538 deals in 2024. This reflected a 7% funding increase and 12% fewer deals than the preceding year, while Africa secured $1.6bn across 236 deals in 2024, marking a year on year decline of 39% from $2.7bn. 

The median blockchain deal size reached $2.8 million, double the all-sector African median of $1.4m, reflecting investor willingness to make high-conviction bets even amid risk-off conditions. However, the average deal size fell sharply to $4.1m, a 44% year on year drop, indicating reduced appetite for larger ticket investments.

The report said investors showed increasing preference for solutions that integrate with regulated financial systems, support cross-border use cases, or address infrastructure gaps in data verification and compliance. Sectorally, capital flowed toward pragmatic, utility-driven categories such as crypto-fiat financial services, decentralized finance, and blockchain-powered data infrastructure. Protocol-level investments, which dominated in previous cycles, largely paused in 2024, suggesting a shift from infrastructure buildout to application-layer deployment.

"Africa’s macroeconomic fundamentals reinforce blockchain’s strategic relevance. In 2025, Africa hosts at least nine of the world’s 20 fastest-growing economies. Yet it continues to attract less than 1% of global venture and private equity capital, revealing a persistent allocation gap. As blockchain offers a modular and interoperable foundation for addressing structural gaps in finance, identity, and data integrity, its relevance to Africa’s broader technological development is paramount," the report said.

Jarryd Kennedy, the head of Investments, CV VC Africa, and Brenton Naicker, principal and head of Growth, CV VC Africa, said globally in 2024, blockchain funding represented 3.2% of all global VC funding, up from 3.0% in 2023. It reached $12.1 billion across 1 309 deals, a 14% year-on-year increase in funding and 6% more deals. North America led with 50% of all funding, followed by Europe and Asia. 

"This paradox of declining funding amounts but increasing deal flow reflects the deep value opportunities available in the early stage African ecosystem. Venture capital globally remains cautious amid geopolitical uncertainty, but blockchain is claiming a larger share of investment in Africa," they said.

"While the combination of blockchain as an emerging technology and Africa an emerging market may appear risky, we view this as an opportunity. The technology is uniquely suited to solving niche African problems and African founders are showing the world how blockchain addresses real challenges like data sovereignty, efficient remittances, provable identity, inaccessible credit and verifiable land ownership. As more success stories surface, investor confidence continues to rise. Crucially, regulatory clarity is a key driver of venture capital investment," they said.

Rob Downes, the head of Digital Assets, Absa CIB, said, "Blockchain specific investment activity has shown resilience, and the data indicates investor appetite in digital infrastructure solutions is growing. International and local investors are noticing the African entrepreneurial spirit, investing in markets where talent and skills in tech sectors are growing. This means even greater opportunities to leverage the technology to help build stronger, more sustainable African economies."

He said blockchain was transforming financial market infrastructure.

"It isn’t just products and services that will be enhanced with blockchain technology, new financial market infrastructures will evolve – and have already. Blockchain’s decentralised nature and immutable records enhance the security and efficiency of financial transactions, with enhanced trust and shared data through cryptographically signing and programmable smart contracts. This means intermediaries which currently provide services across the financial ecosystem may no longer be necessary, which could help reduce costs and speed up services," Downes said. 

BUSINESS REPORT