The African climate tech ecosystem is rapidly maturing into a foundational economic infrastructure layer, fundamentally altering how capital flows into energy, mobility, agriculture, and waste management.

Following a strong start to the year,which saw climate tech startups on the continent draw $688 million in funding during the first half of 2026, industry experts assert that the next wave of outsized growth will be driven by the waste-to-value and electric mobility sub-sectors.

Speaking on “The State of Climate Tech Report” panel at Moonshot 2026, Oluwakemi Olajide, Principal at Africa Climate Ventures, and Maxime Bayen, Partner at Catalyst Fund, highlighted the structural shift underway across regional climate verticals.

“We have seen certain sectors mature. Electric vehicles have attracted sustained investment and can now demonstrate clear growth and operational traction,” Olajide said. “What we need now is granular data for other emerging sectors to attract that same level of institutional capital.”

Bayen echoed this trajectory but cautioned against capital concentration in late-stage rounds. “In African climate tech, between 50 to 60 percent of capital has gone to a small handful of late-stage scale-ups, such as Spiro and SunKing,” he noted.

Emerging investable sectors
Beyond primary energy access, Olajide pointed to circular economy models, sustainable textiles, and agritech as prime targets for venture and growth capital.

“Investors are beginning to recognize the economic yields locked in waste stream conversions, whether that means generating clean power or producing green hydrogen,” Olajide said. “On the EV front, the strongest commercial adoption is happening in two- and three-wheelers.”

Bayen agreed, noting that adoption dynamics in emerging markets diverge significantly from Western trends.
“We are seeing accelerating traction in agriculture and water, particularly in East Africa,” Bayen said. “In market entry, Western execution started with high-margin four-wheel passenger vehicles like Tesla. Africa’s trajectory is inverted. It is driven entirely by affordability. Two- and three-wheelers serve daily commercial transit, which is why market adoption here can accelerate much faster.”

Building for scale and unit economics
Both panellists agreed that for climate tech to function effectively as economic infrastructure, early- and growth-stage founders must move past speculative valuations and demonstrate rigorous, bankable metrics: repeat customer usage, asset-backed collateral, and defensible unit economics that hold up across varying regulatory environments.

“Capital remains heavily clustered, and every product carries its own lifecycle,” Olajide emphasized, noting that scaling beyond core hubs in East and West Africa requires navigating distinct local market frictions. “A stable, proven unit economic model that can be replicated across borders is critical.”

She pointed to ventures converting agricultural residues, such as rice husk processing facilities in Kenya, as successful examples of localized circular economics that require precise operational execution before expanding into larger markets like Nigeria.