As 2025 heads into its second half, the question is no longer whether funding will return. It has. The question now is: where will it go next — and who will be left behind?
Temu’s expansion comes less than a year after Jumia Technologies AG, often dubbed the “Amazon of Africa,” shut down operations in South Africa and Tunisia.
For these companies — names like Chipper Cash, LemFi, Flutterwave, and TapTap Send — a 5% tax on remittances out of the U.S. would have fundamentally altered their business models.
As more startups layer financial services onto distribution networks, the message is clear: surviving Africa’s B2B e-commerce crunch may hinge less on moving goods, and more on financing them.