Black-owned businesses in five African nations face $209bn funding gap

A report by British International Investment (BII) and Swedfund has identified a $209 billion financing gap for Black-owned and Black-led businesses across five African nations. The research, titled ‘Understanding the investment gaps in Black-owned and -led businesses in sub-Saharan Africa’, highlights significant disparities in capital access as businesses attempt to scale.

Nigeria faces the largest deficit at $131 billion, followed by South Africa at $45 billion and Kenya at $23 billion. Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire account for gaps of $5.7 billion and $4.6 billion, respectively. While Black-owned businesses comprise between 89% and 99% of small businesses in these markets, their representation drops significantly among larger enterprises, falling to 40% in Kenya and 35% in South Africa.

The report notes that the $209 billion gap in these five countries is approximately four times larger than the gap for businesses outside this category. Across the broader sub-Saharan African region, the total financing gap is estimated at $1.842 trillion.