Yaqeen Blog

The "funding winter" of the last two years didn't kill the African tech ecosystem; it pruned it. In 2025, we aren't seeing the bloated valuations of 2021. Instead, we are seeing resilient, high-alpha machines that have shifted from "growth at all costs" to "profitability at scale."

With the Big Four (Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, South Africa) still commanding 60% of the capital, and a fresh $3 billion funding milestone hit this December, these are the 10 startups that VCs and institutional investors are betting on to define the next decade.

1. Moniepoint: The New Benchmark for Scale

Fresh off reaching Unicorn status in late 2024 with a $110M Series C, Moniepoint is no longer just a "point of sale" company. In 2025, they have become the primary financial operating system for Nigeria’s massive informal and formal business sectors. For VCs, Moniepoint is the blueprint for how to build a profitable, high-velocity fintech in a volatile macro environment.

• Website: https://moniepoint.com

2. Moove: Exporting African Innovation Globally

Moove is the ultimate "African tech gone global" story. By providing vehicle financing for "mobility entrepreneurs" (Uber/Grab drivers), they’ve expanded from Lagos to 29 cities across five continents. In 2025, they are leading the charge in EV adoption in emerging markets, backed by the likes of Mubadala and BlackRock.

• Website: https://www.moove.io

3. LemFi: The Diaspora Powerhouse

While many fintechs struggle with local currency devaluations, LemFi (formerly Lemonade Finance) found its edge in the diaspora. By facilitating seamless, zero-fee remittances for immigrants across the US, UK, and Canada back to Africa and Asia, they’ve turned the "immigrant hustle" into a high-margin, scalable platform.

• Website: https://www.lemfi.com

4. M-KOPA: The Fintech-as-an-Asset King

Kenya-based M-KOPA has evolved from solar lamps to a massive asset-financing platform. Using an IoT-enabled micropayment model, they provide underbanked consumers with smartphones and electric motorbikes. With over 5 million customers, they are proving that credit is the ultimate "killer app" in Africa.

• Website: https://m-kopa.com

5. OmniRetail: Deep-Link Logistics

Operating in the fragmented FMCG space, OmniRetail connects manufacturers directly to retailers. Their 2025 dominance comes from their "OmniPay" integration, which provides working capital to small shop owners based on their inventory data. They are solving the "last-mile" problem while building a massive data moat.

• Website: https://omniretail.com

6. PowerGen: The Energy Sovereign

As the world looks toward Green Energy, PowerGen is building the grid of the future. They develop and operate renewable energy micro-grids across East and West Africa. For investors, PowerGen represents the Infrastructure-as-a-Service play that is essential for the continent's industrialization.

• Website: https://www.powergen-renewable-energy.com

7. Naked Insurance: The AI Disruptor

South Africa’s Naked is doing to insurance what Robinhood did to trading. By using AI to automate the entire claims and sign-up process, they’ve removed the "middleman" friction that has plagued the sector for decades. Their Series B+ success in 2025 proves that Insurtech is the next major frontier for African VC.

• Website: https://www.naked.insure

8. Apollo Agriculture: Scaling the Breadbasket

Food security is a multi-billion dollar problem, and Apollo Agriculture is the solution. They use satellite data, machine learning, and automated credit scoring to provide small-scale farmers in Kenya and Zambia with high-quality seeds, fertilizer, and insurance. They are turning subsistence farming into a data-driven business.

• Website: https://www.apolloagriculture.com

9. Thndr: The Wealth-Tech Revolution

Egypt’s Thndr is democratizing investment in a region traditionally dominated by real estate. Their mobile-first platform allows Egyptians to invest in stocks, gold, and mutual funds with zero commissions. In 2025, they are the gateway for a new generation of North African retail investors.

• Website: https://www.thndr.app

10. Khula!: The Agri-Marketplace

South African startup Khula! creates a "connected ecosystem" for the agricultural supply chain. By linking farmers to a digital marketplace for inputs, technical advice, and a b2b marketplace to sell their produce, they are professionalizing the continent’s most important sector.

• Website: https://www.khula.co.za

The Bottom Line for VCs

The 2025 African startup landscape is defined by convergence. We are seeing Fintech merge with Agriculture (Agri-Fin), Logistics merge with Retail (B2B E-commerce), and Energy merge with IoT.

The "Alpha" in 2025 isn't found in copy-pasting Silicon Valley models; it’s found in the startups building the physical and digital rails that make a fragmented continent act like a single, unified market.

Forget the old guard for a second. While legends like Salah and Mané are still doing their thing, there is a new wave of "Programmable Footballers" coming out of Africa. These aren't just prospects; they are high-impact, elite talents already tearing it up in the Premier League, Bundesliga, and Ligue 1.

With the 2026 FIFA World Cup on the horizon in North America, these 10 young kings are ready to take the global stage by storm. This is the unfiltered report on the future of African football.

1. Lamine Camara (Senegal) 🇸🇳

Already a CAF Young Player of the Year, Camara is the heartbeat of the Teranga Lions' midfield. Currently at AS Monaco, he combines "dogged energy" with technical security. He isn't just a defensive screener; he's an all-action engine who can spring a counter-attack in seconds.

• Innovation: Elite ball retention and stamina; the "New Generation" leader for Senegal.

• Official Wikipedia: Lamine Camara

2. Eliesse Ben Seghir (Morocco) 🇲🇦

Morocco made history in 2022, and Ben Seghir is the reason they might do it again in 2026. The Bayer Leverkusen forward is a creative magician, capable of navigating tight spaces with "deft touches." He’s already found the net in the Champions League and is viewed as the future of the Atlas Lions.

• Innovation: High-speed dribbling and positional versatility across the front three.

• Official Wikipedia: Eliesse Ben Seghir

3. Yan Diomandé (Côte d'Ivoire) 🇨🇮

Being called the "African Mbappé" is a heavy tag, but Diomandé is living up to it at RB Leipzig. After switching his allegiance from the US to Ivory Coast in 2025, he has become a human highlight reel in the Bundesliga, leading the league in successful take-ons.

• Innovation: Explosive pace and clinical finishing; a pure "impact" winger.

• Official Wikipedia: Yan Diomandé

4. Ibrahim Maza (Algeria) 🇩🇿

A German-born talent who chose to represent his father’s country, Maza is the latest "starlet" shining at Bayer Leverkusen. Playing as a number 10, he has an unflinching composure on the ball and the vision to unlock deep-sitting defenses.

• Innovation: Advanced spatial awareness and "X-factor" unpredictability in attack.

• Official Wikipedia: Ibrahim Maza

5. Carlos Baleba (Cameroon) 🇨🇲

Baleba is the physical force Brighton (and reportedly Manchester United) are obsessed with. At just 21, he brings an incredible blend of athleticism and defensive intelligence to Cameroon’s midfield. He is the anchor that allows the Indomitable Lions to play aggressive, high-press football.

• Innovation: High-intensity ball recovery and physical dominance in the middle third.

• Official Wikipedia: Carlos Baleba

6. Chemsdine Talbi (Morocco) 🇲🇦

New to the Premier League with Sunderland, Talbi has already put the giants on notice with goals against Liverpool and Chelsea. He is a versatile attacking tool who can drift between the wing and the number 10 role with ease.

• Innovation: Rapid adaptation to high-level physical leagues and "big game" temperament.

• Official Wikipedia: Chemsdine Talbi

7. Oumar Diakité (Côte d'Ivoire) 🇨🇮

The "talisman" for the next decade of Ivorian football. The Stade de Reims forward is a powerhouse who blends physicality with a nose for goal. He was the hero of the 2023 AFCON and is maturing into a complete modern striker.

• Innovation: Hybrid profile—strength of a traditional 9 with the mobility of a modern winger.

• Official Wikipedia: Oumar Diakité

8. Ibrahim Mbaye (Senegal) 🇸🇳

At just 17 years old, Mbaye is already a regular face at PSG. He’s the youngest on this list but perhaps the most gifted. While he might start the World Cup qualifiers on the bench, his ability to change a game in 15 minutes is scary.

• Innovation: Exceptional technical ceiling; one of the highest-rated teens in European football.

• Official Wikipedia: Ibrahim Mbaye

9. Noah Sadiki (DR Congo) 🇨🇩

The engine behind Sunderland’s promotion charge and DR Congo’s midfield. Sadiki is a "defensive screener" with elite ball retention. He is the reason the Leopards are becoming a nightmare for the continent’s bigger teams to break down.

• Innovation: Tactical discipline and elite vision from a deep-lying midfield role.

• Official Wikipedia: Noah Sadiki

10. Benjamin Fredrick (Nigeria) 🇳🇬

With the Super Eagles looking for defensive stability to support their superstar attack, Fredrick has emerged as the answer. Excelling on loan from Brentford, he can play both right-back and center-back, offering a level of composure rare for a 20-year-old.

• Innovation: Multi-positional defensive reliability and high-level distribution from the back.

• Official Wikipedia: Benjamin Fredrick

📊 The Next Gen: 2026 World Cup Impact Matrix

Why 2026 is the Year of African "Presence"

In 2026, African football is no longer just about "raw talent"; it's about tactical maturity. These 10 players represent a shift toward high-IQ, technically secure football that can compete with the best of Europe and South America. They aren't just going to the World Cup to participate—they are going to dominate.

Which of these young stars do you think will win the World Cup Best Young Player award in 2026?

Hidden between the dense Banco rainforest and the bustling working-class suburb of Yopougon lies the Abidjan Prison and Correctional Facility (MACA), the largest penitentiary in Côte d’Ivoire. Originally built in the 1970s following a European model, MACA was designed to house around 1,500 inmates. Today, it routinely holds between 5,000 and over 7,000 inmates, resulting in a density rate nearly 300% above capacity and creating one of the world's most acute humanitarian crises behind bars.

MACA is less a state-run institution and more a micro-society governed by its own informal, brutal, and paradoxically stable code—a system defined by "conflicting solidarities" between guards and the incarcerated.

The Overcrowding Crisis and Inhumane Conditions

The sheer weight of the inmate population has rendered the original infrastructure obsolete and the legal system overwhelmed.

• Extreme Density: Inmate testimonies and human rights reports describe prisoners sleeping head-to-toe on the floor, often without mattresses, due to the lack of space.

• Health and Hygiene: Lack of running water, non-functional toilets, and unsanitary conditions lead to widespread illness. This is further aggravated by the fact that many inmates, particularly children and juveniles, are detained in MACA while awaiting trial for months or even years, violating Ivorian law. Over a third (36%) of the prison population is comprised of pre-trial detainees.

• The "Home of Excrement": In one of Côte d’Ivoire’s many languages (Anyi), prison is colloquially called the "home of excrement" (bìí sùà), reflecting the societal perception of banishment and abandonment associated with MACA.

Conflicting Solidarities: How MACA Governs Itself

The overwhelming overcrowding and chronic understaffing by official guards have forced the emergence of complex internal systems of governance. Power is decentralized, resting largely in the hands of inmate leaders (sometimes called "black-coats" or "prisoners-managers").

• The Inmate Code: Within the walls, daily life is organized by an informal hierarchy built on both violence and solidarity. Long-tenured prisoners exert control, sometimes extorting new inmates for basic access to decent sleeping cells—a practice known as the "Baygon System."

• Shared Authority: Paradoxically, these inmate leaders enforce norms and even assist guards in managing welfare and communication. Guards rely on these self-ordering principles to maintain a fragile stability, effectively outsourcing control to the incarcerated population.

• Corruption and Privilege: Corruption is pervasive. Reports indicate that guards often allow cell phones and other contraband in exchange for bribes. Foreign nationals or corporate executives sometimes enjoy "privileged" conditions in separate blocks, exposing a hierarchy based on wealth and political connection that mirrors the outside world.

The Historical and Political Dimension

MACA is not immune to Côte d’Ivoire's volatile political history. The prison's gates were violently opened during the 2011 post-election crisis, freeing thousands of detainees who were then recruited into armed political groups.

This history underscores that MACA is more than a place of confinement; it is a powerful lens revealing the country's social, political, and moral dynamics. The facility powerfully reflects deep-seated issues of corruption, slow justice (as evidenced by the high percentage of pre-trial detainees), and the worth society places on its most vulnerable citizens.

While international bodies and local NGOs, including Catholic Bishops, have called for clemency and urgent reform, the system of "conflicting solidarities" remains the primary mechanism for survival inside MACA's walls.

Sources

◦ U.S. Department of State - 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Côte d’Ivoire

◦ Prison Insider - Cote d’Ivoire: Prisons in 2025 (Statistics and Density)

◦ Amnesty International - Côte d’Ivoire: Hundreds Arrested Still Languishing in Detention

◦ The New Humanitarian - Prisons Ignoring the Rights of Ivorian Youth