Growth Gateway: Guide to inclusive investing in Africa (summary)
Published 10 December 2025
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The guide to inclusive investing in Africa was developed by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) for the UK Growth Gateway programme. It addresses a critical challenge in Africa’s tech ecosystem: women-led and women-centric businesses remain underrepresented, underfunded and undervalued, receiving less than 1% of venture capital. This is despite evidence that they deliver stronger returns and sustainable growth.
The guide provides investors with data-driven insights and practical recommendations to foster gender-lens investing and unlock opportunities in Africa’s dynamic technology landscape.
The guide outlines the scale of Africa’s tech economy, which attracted $18 billion in investment between 2020 and 2024 and is projected to contribute $250 billion to $300 billion to GDP. It examines structural barriers facing women founders, from limited access to networks and early-stage capital to persistent biases in investment committees. Despite these challenges, research shows that women-led startups generate twice the revenue per dollar invested and achieve 10% higher long-term growth.
To help investors act, the report identifies 4 priority sub-sectors: fintech, healthtech, retailtech and edtech, and maps opportunities across 10 high-potential markets, including Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Egypt. Each sub-sector analysis highlights market size, growth drivers and women’s economic empowerment impact, alongside vetted shortlists of women-led startups.
The guide also outlines strategies for closing the $2.5 billion gender funding gap, such as blended finance, first-loss capital, and partnerships with accelerators and development finance institutions. By combining commercial insight with social impact, this guide positions inclusive investing not only as a moral imperative but as a smart strategy for capturing Africa’s next wave of high-growth ventures.
The report offers a roadmap for UK investors seeking scalable opportunities aligned with environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals to achieve both financial returns and gender equity.