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How to Write a Pitch Deck Investors in Africa Will Read

7 min read

A slide-by-slide guide to pitch decks for African founders, with 2026 funding data, bottom-up market sizing, traction investors trust and simple design rules.

A pitch deck investors in Africa will read opens with one plain sentence about what you do, then shows the problem, your product, the evidence that customers want it, how you make money, your team and a specific ask. Keep it to about a dozen slides, put one idea on each, and use only numbers you can defend on a follow-up call.

Investors on the continent are choosing carefully this year. Africa: The Big Deal counts 311 start-ups that raised at least US$100,000 in Africa from January to September 2026, down 18% from 381 in the same months of 2025, and 334 or more named investors taking part in those deals, down from 408 or more (Africa: The Big Deal). With fewer cheques going round, expect your deck to be read closely. This guide sets out how I would build one today.

What is a pitch deck meant to do?

A deck has one job: to earn you a meeting. Investors book a call when the slides make them curious and give them reasons to believe you.

Most founders need two versions. The send-ahead deck goes by email and has to make sense without you in the room, so it can carry a little more text. The presenting deck supports you as you speak, so it can be lighter. Build the send-ahead version first, then strip it down for the stage.

Which slides should a pitch deck include?

Sequoia Capital's guide to writing a business plan lists ten sections that most investors expect, starting with your company purpose in a single declarative sentence (Sequoia Capital). I add the ask at the end. Here is the order, with notes for founders building in Kenya and across Africa:

  1. Company purpose. One sentence anyone could repeat. For example: "We help pharmacies in Nairobi reorder stock from WhatsApp."
  2. Problem. Who has it, how often, and what it costs them today, in shillings or hours.
  3. Solution. What you built and why it works for this customer.
  4. Why now. What has changed: a regulation, a payment rail, a shift in how people buy.
  5. Market. Who your customer is and how many of them you can reach. More on this below.
  6. Competition and alternatives. Include the informal options people use today, such as cash, a chama, a notebook or a WhatsApp group. These are often your biggest competitors.
  7. Business model. How you charge, how much, and how customers pay. If you take M-Pesa or card, say so.
  8. Team. Why each person is suited to this problem.
  9. Financials. Revenue, costs and burn if you have them. Sequoia's wording is "if you have any, please include."
  10. Vision. What the company becomes in five years if the plan works.
  11. The ask. How much you are raising, what it pays for, and the milestones it gets you to.

How do I size my market without inflating it?

Count from the bottom up. A slide that says "Africa has over a billion people" tells an investor nothing about your business. Show how many customers you can reach in your first markets and what each would pay you in a year.

Take a made-up example. Say you sell stock software to pharmacies. Estimate how many pharmacies operate in the towns you will cover first, multiply by your annual price per pharmacy, and show the working on the slide. Then show the next markets you would enter and why. An investor can check bottom-up maths, and that check builds trust.

What traction should I show investors?

Show the numbers that hold up under questions: paying customers, monthly revenue, repeat purchases and how these have grown. Downloads and sign-ups say much less. If your numbers are small, show the trend. As an example, 40 paying customers this month against 10 three months ago tells a clear story.

Three habits help with African investors in particular:

  • State your currency. Give revenue in shillings with the US dollar equivalent, and say which exchange rate and date you used.
  • Know how you count every figure. Define "active customer" before someone asks.
  • Think about debt as well as equity. Partech counts US$4.1 billion raised by African tech in 2025, of which US$1.6 billion was debt, a record (Partech). If you finance assets such as solar kits or motorbikes, lenders may join your round, and they will read your repayment data before anything else.

How should the slides look?

Former YC partner Kevin Hale gives three tests for a slide: it should be legible, simple and obvious (Y Combinator). In practice that means large type with strong contrast, one idea per slide, and the conclusion written on the slide. If you show a chart, put a caption above it that says what the chart proves, such as "Revenue has doubled since March."

Hale also suggests showing a slide to someone who does not know your company. If they cannot tell you the point straight away, rewrite it. Cut logos, animations and stock photos that add nothing.

How do I send my deck to investors?

  • Research each fund first. Check their stage, sector and recent deals, and only approach those that invest in companies like yours.
  • Ask for a warm introduction from a founder they have backed, where you can.
  • Keep the email short: one line on what you do, your strongest number, the amount you are raising, and the deck attached as a PDF.
  • Follow up once after about a week if you hear nothing, with one new piece of progress.
  • Keep a simple tracker of who you sent it to, when, and what they said.

For a wider list of where early money comes from, see our guide to startup funding sources for African founders.

Where can I test my deck before investors see it?

Pitch it to people who will tell you plainly where they got lost. Watching others pitch helps too. Our Cohort 4 Residency Demo Day is on Tuesday 17 November 2026 at 5pm at 124 Manyani East Road, and it is listed on our events calendar. Our guide on how to give a great demo day pitch covers the stage version of your deck.

If you want structured help, the Hackhouse Residency runs for 12 weeks, takes no equity and ends with a Demo Day finale. Applications for HH Gen 27.1 are open for the Spark track (idea stage, KES 25,000) and the Scale track (growth stage, KES 35,000).

Key facts

  • A deck exists to earn a meeting, so every slide should give an investor a reason to call you.
  • Sequoia's outline covers purpose, problem, solution, why now, market, competition, business model, team, financials and vision. Add a clear ask.
  • Size your market from the bottom up and show the working.
  • Lead with traction that survives questions: paying customers, revenue, repeat use and growth.
  • From January to September 2026, 311 start-ups raised US$100,000 or more in Africa, down 18% on 2025 (Africa: The Big Deal).
  • Make each slide legible, simple and obvious, with its conclusion written on it.

Frequently asked questions

How many slides should a pitch deck have?

About 10 to 12 for a send-ahead deck: one for each of Sequoia's ten sections plus your ask. A presenting deck for a short demo day slot should be shorter.

Should I include financial projections at pre-seed?

Show what you have: current revenue, costs and monthly burn. If you add projections, keep them to a simple view of the next 18 to 24 months and explain the assumptions behind them.

Should I put my valuation in the deck?

Most founders leave it out and discuss terms once an investor is interested. Do put the amount you are raising and what it pays for.

Should my deck use shillings or US dollars?

Use both where it matters. Many investors in Africa report in US dollars, so give shilling figures with the dollar equivalent and the exchange rate you used.

Sources

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