State of Social Enterprise Africa 2025

Social enterprises seeking external finance, disaggregated by growth stage FIGURE 9 Social enterprises seeking and successfully securing finance by source FIGURE 10Seed stage Start-up stage Growth stage Expansion stage Established stage Sought finance Did not seek finance37% 63% 46% 54% 54% 46% 58% 42% 61% 39% 32% 19% 17% 9% 13% 6% 12% 6% 12% 6% 10% 5% 6% 3% 6% 3% 2% 1%Grants Family and friends Impact investors Crowdfunding Bank loans Angel investors Microfinance Traditional venture capital Other Sought SecuredAmong social enterprises seeking finance, 64% approached grant providers, followed by family and friends (34%), impact investors (27%), crowdfunding platforms (24%) and angel investors (20%). This pattern reflects a reliance on diverse and sometimes informal funding sources to secure capital.Success in securing capital and growth stages Despite strong demand for funding, only 33% of social enterprises have secured external capital over the past three years. Grants dominated among successful cases (56%), followed by family and friends (28%), impact investors (19%) and bank loans (19%). The relatively lower success rate compared to the number seeking finance underscores the challenges social enterprises face in accessing capital.Source: Survey data, World Economic Forum Source: Survey data, World Economic Forum7%12% 9%15% 1%4% 3%6% 5%10% 2%4% 1%2% 2%3% 1%1%Grants Family and friends Impact investors Crowdfunding Bank loans Angel investors Microfinance Traditional venture capital Other Sought Secured The State of Social Enterprise: Unlocking Inclusive Growth, Jobs and Development in Africa 30