According to data from the Ecofin Pro Transaction Journal, which has collected and stored information on private financing in Africa (excluding bank credit and financial markets), since 2017, a total of $19.2 billion in private financing flows have been recorded as of November 10, 2023.
The journal revealed that this would be a new record for Africa since 2017 when it began tracking private finance on the continent.
It was also revealed that the number of annual transactions had hit 940 as of November 10, which exceeded the figures for 2020–2022. It is, however, still lower than the 2019 record, which was 1,071 transactions.
An analysis of the data showed that the median value, which represents the central value of transactions when ranked in ascending order, exceeded $3 million in 2023, a level that has not been reached since 2017 when the average value of private financing flows was $3.5 million.
Additionally, 2023 marks a record with 470 transactions exceeding this median value, compared to 360 six years earlier.
Meanwhile, the number and total value of transactions exceeding $100 million remain high. As of the last data collection date, 2023 already had 38 deals worth more than $100 million. That’s fewer than the 48 recorded in 2022, but the overall value ($10.45 billion) is similar.
However, the rate of growth in the value of transactions showed signs of slowing after 2021 and 2022, which were considered post-COVID-19 recovery years.
Factors such as rising interest rates in developed markets, the effects of the Ukrainian crisis on food prices, and consequently, the interest rate policies of African central banks have been projected to be some of the reasons for the moderation in the growth of transactions on the continent.
