Africa recorded 25 startup exits in H1 2026; here are the most notable ones

The African startup ecosystem witnessed several milestones in the first half of 2026. One important milestone is the number of startup exits recorded during the period. Data show that there were 25 startup exits recorded in the first six months of the year.

The reason the number is quite impressive is that the 2026 number surpasses the total number of startup exits recorded in 2025.

Startup exits, mergers and acquisitions were largely spurred by three major factors.

The first is for licensing purposes, as some companies preferred to simply acquire a startup that already has a license rather than building from scratch. This helps them bypass regulatory tedium and bureaucracy.

The second reason is for expansion, as some companies outside Africa bought African companies to establish a foothold and acquire talent.

Finally, some investors use the exits for secondary liquidity. This generally makes fundraising easier.

Read also: With 7% of $1.37 billion raised in H1, female founders should become more investable

Baobab, Pay@ and Mono, the largest disclosed startup exits

Only three of the startup exits announced in the first half of 2026 disclosed their values. By far the largest is Baobab, a Pan-African lending startup that was acquired in February by Egyptian financial services company Beltone in a deal worth $227.13 million.

The full acquisition came a year after both companies signed a share purchase agreement.

Speaking at that time, Group CEO and Managing Director of Beltone Holding, Dalia Khorshid, noted that the strategic acquisition fuels Beltone’s data-driven regional expansion into high-growth African and emerging markets, reinforcing its commitment to financial inclusion and impactful product offerings.

“This move significantly broadens our portfolio across different platform offerings in Africa. Baobab’s established market presence, combined with our innovative financial solutions, empowers us to further accelerate its growth, enhance its digital capabilities, and expand its client base. Together, our combined teams bring exceptional talent and expertise, enabling us to drive economic empowerment and deliver greater value to the communities we serve,” he said.

The second-largest of the disclosed exits is Pay@, a South African payments startup that was acquired in February by Araxi for $62 million (for 80%). Founded in 2007, Pay@ operates over 9,000 retail payment points and 150,000 point-of-sale devices across Southern Africa. The company processes over ZAR 60 billion in annual transaction value.

Araxi is a cloud, AI, point-of-sale technology services company. The acquisition therefore combines Araxi’s technology capabilities with Pay@’s physical payment infrastructure, according to CEO Bradley Sacks.

Mono is the last company to be disclosed following its acquisition in January by Flutterwave in a deal valued between $25 million and $40 million in an all-stock transaction. Founded in 2020, Mono has been building the very infrastructure that makes open banking viable in Africa.

The deal allows Flutterwave to embed these capabilities directly into its stack. Rather than relying solely on card networks or third-party services, businesses using Flutterwave can now incorporate secure onboarding, identity checks, bank account verification, and direct account-to-account payments within a unified framework.

Other notable startup exits in the first half of 2026

Aside from the three whose values were disclosed, there are other African startup exits whose values are not disclosed but are quite notable. Ladder, a Nigerian Microfinance Bank (MFB), was acquired in January by fintech giant Paystack to allow Paystack to enter the regulated banking and lending space.

With the acquisition, the company can now hold deposits, issue business and consumer loans, and provide banking-as-a-service; thus, it was rebranded as Paystack MFB.

In March, Nigerian payment giant Moniepoint entered the Kenyan market with the acquisition of a 78% controlling stake in Sumac Microfinance Bank. With the strategic acquisition, Moniepoint acquired a vital regulatory deposit-taking license, allowing it to bypass strict licensing freezes and scale its SME-focused credit and banking services in East Africa.

Not all the startup exits occurred in the fintech space, though. In January, Izili, a leading Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) off-grid energy company based in Nigeria, acquired Burkina-Faso-based Qotto for an undisclosed fee. With the acquisition, Izili strengthened its footprint across Africa by bringing its total operational markets in Africa to six. The company says it reinforces its ambition to scale access to sustainable energy solutions across the continent.

Also in January, Israeli research and development company Commit acquired African tech talent startup Savannah, in a multimillion-dollar deal. As part of the deal, the African tech talent company will now operate as part of COMMIT Offshore and will henceforth be known as Savannah by Commit.

With this acquisition, Commit is strengthening its ability to help global organisations scale dedicated, high-quality engineering teams across regions, especially English-speaking African countries like Nigeria and Ghana.

In May, Africa-focused electric bike producer Spiro acquired Coexlion, a UK and India-based motorcycle engineering and design company. ]

The acquisition brings Coexlion’s motorcycle engineering and industrial design expertise into Spiro’s growing technology platform. It strengthens its ability to design, develop, and manufacture products specifically adapted to African road conditions, rider usage patterns, and customer requirements.

In other startup exits, Kenya’s conversational ecommerce platform, Chpter, was acquired by Cloud9 in an all-stock deal; Moroccan last-mile logistics startup Cathedis was acquired and integrated by ORA technologies as part of its super app push; South African traveltech and ecotourism startup Conservio was acquired by the Netherlands-based Glampings in an expansion drive; and 27four Nebula Fund acquired South African payment gateway Peach Payments.