Introduction
Between January 2023 and March 2026, at least 56 layoff events (4,948 disclosed job losses) swept through Africa’s tech ecosystem. The data, compiled by TechCabal Insights, cuts through the noise of individual layoff announcements to surface patterns that are harder to see in isolation.
From funding boom to layoffs
Africa’s tech ecosystem raised $4.65 billion across 941 deals in 2022, a record high since 2019. But in 2023, funding fell 37.2% to $2.92 billion across just 554 deals, and declined further to $2.24 billion in 2024, less than half the 2022 peak. The decline mirrored a broader global venture capital slowdown, as higher interest rates, inflation and greater investor caution made capital harder to raise. As capital dried up, the number of active investors fell by nearly 50% between 2022 and 2023. The layoff wave that followed was, in some ways, the hangover from overhiring during the 2022 boom.
Alerzo, a Nigerian B2B e-commerce startup, cut staff twice in 2023 after acknowledging it had over-hired during its post-Series A expansion. In March 2023, seven months after its first recorded layoff in September 2022, it cut over 400 staff, citing post-election uncertainty and difficult macroeconomic conditions. Eight months later, in November 2023, it laid off another 100, this time attributing the cuts to warehouse automation. Across 2023, 20 layoff events were recorded, accounting for 1,553 disclosed job losses.
Fintech leads in layoffs
The sector breakdown reveals where the pressure has been most concentrated. Fintech recorded the most layoff events, 20 of 56 tracked cases, or 35% of the total. This is not surprising. Fintech is Africa’s dominant startup sector by both deal count and capital raised. Data from TechCabal Insights’ State of Tech in Africa 2025 report shows the sector attracted 40% of startup funding ($1.37B) in 2025, more than the next five sectors combined. Nigeria drives much of that weight. 10 of the 13 fintech layoff events tracked came from Nigeria.
Yet those 20 fintech events produced only 416 disclosed job losses in total, roughly 20 people per cut on average.
E-commerce tells a different story. The sector accounts for 12 events, but 2,872 disclosed job losses. The difference comes down to headcount. E-commerce companies, with their warehouses, logistics networks, and last-mile operations, employ far more people per dollar of revenue than most fintech firms. Copia Global and Twiga Foods alone account for the bulk of disclosed losses in this sector. When a company of that scale cuts jobs or shuts down, the numbers are not marginal.
Two of the five largest layoff events ended in shutdown
The five largest layoff events between 2023 and 2026 accounted for 71% of total disclosed losses. Of those five, Copia Global and KOKO Networks together represent 43% of disclosed losses, and both have since ceased operations entirely.
Copia Global was a Kenyan e-commerce platform that used a network of local agents to deliver everyday household goods, cooking oil, sugar, toiletries, to low-income consumers in rural and peri-urban areas that conventional retail could not reach. It raised $123 million across eight funding rounds. The collapse unfolded in stages.
In April 2023, Copia shut down its Uganda operations and let go of over 350 workers, citing the need to focus its resources on profitability in Kenya. In 2023 alone, Copia laid off 700 staff. By May 2024, the company was struggling, with salaries at risk. InJune, administrators laid off 1,060 employees in a bid to survive on a leaner cost base while searching for fresh capital. The search failed. By July 2024, Copia had moved into liquidation, selling delivery trucks, warehouses, and office equipment to pay creditors.
Copia’s collapse was not just a funding problem. It is also linked to its business model. Building last-mile logistics for low-income, rural consumers is capital-intensive by nature, and in a context of poor roads and fragmented supply chains, sustaining it becomes even harder.
KOKO Networks shut down in January 2026, laying off its entire 700-person workforce. The company was Kenya’s largest clean-cooking startup, serving roughly 1.5 million households through a network of more than 3,000 automated bioethanol fuel dispensers. Its model subsidised fuel costs for low-income households, selling bioethanol at roughly half the market price.
The cause was regulatory. Kenya’s Climate Change (Carbon Markets) Regulations, introduced in mid-2024, required companies to obtain a Letter of Authorisation from the government before selling credits internationally. KOKO applied. The government ultimately declined to issue it, citing concerns about market monopoly risk and carbon accounting integrity. Without the ability to sell carbon credits, the subsidy model collapsed. The 1.5 million households that had reliedon KOKO were left to find alternatives.
Growth stage startups bear the brunt
Growth stage startups accounted for 47% of layoff events and 88% of all disclosed job losses. Early stage companies, pre-seed and seed, saw 15 events by comparison, with around 210 employees affected, just 4.2% of total disclosed losses. The gap reflects team size more than frequency of distress. Within this group, Series C companies recorded the biggest workforce impact, 2,267 staff cuts across 10 events. These are companies that had raised significant capital, built large teams, and were expected to be approaching maturity. The early stage number is also worth noting. Fifteen events is not a small count. The low headcount is a reflection of smaller team sizes, not lower frequency of distress.
What are the reasons cited?
Restructuring is the most commonly cited reason for layoffs, appearing in more than half of all tracked events. Cost-cutting and financial distress follow. One finding stands out: across 56 layoff events over three years, AI is almost never cited as a direct cause. Companies use the language of restructuring and efficiency, Alerzo’s warehouse automation is one example, but they do not typically attribute headcount reductions to AI adoption. There is one clear exception. In February 2026, Zap Africa laid off 8 employees, 44% of its workforce, and described it explicitly as an “AI-driven efficiency shift”.
Globally, the picture looks very different. AI was cited as a factor in nearly 55,000 layoffs in the US alone in 2025. Whether that reflects a genuine difference in AI adoption rates, a difference in what companies are willing to say publicly, or simply a lag before the same logic takes hold, the data cannot say. But it is worth asking whether AI is quietly embedded inside some of the “restructuring” and “cost-cutting” language in this dataset, even where it is not named.
Conclusion
Between 2023 and 2026, Africa’s tech ecosystem went through a significant contraction, in funding, in headcount, and in some cases, in existence. The layoffs were concentrated in growth stage companies, driven by macroeconomic pressure and a funding drought. Restructuring dominated as the stated reason. Two of the five largest layoff events ended in shutdown. Early signs of funding recovery are visible in the numbers, but whether that translates into a different layoff picture over the next three years remains to be seen.
Methodology: TechCabal Insights tracked publicly reported layoff events between January 2023 and March 2026. Job-loss figures reflect disclosed headcounts only. 16 events tracked had undisclosed headcount. The total of 4,948 represents disclosed numbers only.
