Tag: AfricInvest

AVCA spotlights the African diaspora, practical pathways to exits and private credit as multipliers shaping African growth

The African Private Capital Association hosted its sixth Venture Capital (VC) Summit on Monday, kicking off the industry association’s 22nd Annual Conference in Nairobi from 27 – 30 April. AVCA’s annual global gathering brings founders, venture capital investors, corporate venture arms, philanthropic foundations and policymakers together to deepen Africa’s entrepreneurial landscape.

Abi Mustapha-Maduakor, Chief Executive Officer, AVCA, opened the summit by commending the VC industry’s fortitude and ability to execute during tough economic cycles. Abi acknowledged that despite a challenging fundraising environment, “venture-backed exits reached a record high in 2025,” highlighting a pivotal shift in the ecosystem: “The centre of gravity is moving toward local capital, local expertise, and local conviction.”

A defining moment of the day was the keynote fireside chat between Boris Kodjoe, Actor, Director, Producer, Investor and Philanthropist, and AVCA CEO Abi Mustapha Maduakor. Boris underscored the role of storytelling in shaping how markets are understood and how capital flows, stating that: “Storytelling is economic architecture – those who control the narrative shape valuation, and perception is what drives investment.”

The summit then turned to the structural questions underpinning venture capital in Africa. During the panel entitled From Hype to Fundamentals: Resetting the African VC Story, panellists, including Tidjane Dème, General Partner, Partech Partners; Sapna Shah, Partner, Novastar Ventures; Fatoumata Bâ, Founder and Executive Chair, Janngo Capital, and Mohamed Eissa, Global Head, Venture Capital and Direct Investments, International Finance Corporation (IFC) exchanged views on whether imported VC models ever fully fit the continent’s realities, reflecting candidly on where expectations diverged from outcomes and assessing what has and has not worked in the market.

Outlining the roadmap for onward growth, veteran VC investor Tidjane Dème, General Partner at Partech Partners, quoted Ido Sum, entrepreneur and Partner at TLcom Capital, saying: “African venture capital isn’t broken – it’s just young.” He added that: “A decade ago, we saw around 30 deals a year; today, that number exceeds 500. We’re still building, and we can’t compare ourselves to a 50-year-old U.S ecosystem just yet. We have time.”

Mohamed Eissa, Global Head, Venture Capital and Direct Investments, International Finance Corporation (IFC), expressed that: “This ecosystem is still very young, but it has grown from about $400 million of annual investment to roughly $4 billion in just over a decade, clear evidence that the capital base is expanding, even if it’s still not enough.”

The summit featured interactive sessions on pathways to exits, with collaboration identified as key to improving liquidity. Industry leaders, including Patricia Rinke, Investment Director, AfricInvest; Ibrahim Sagna, Executive Chairman, Silverbacks Holdings; and Andreata Muforo, Partner, TLcom Capital, outlined the need to look beyond Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) and assessed the role of strategic acquisitions and Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) as deliberate liquidity strategies.

Building on the sentiments of Boris Kodjoe, who outlined the importance of African diaspora investors participating in the continent’s growth story, Alex Rumanyika, Head, Strategy and Performance, at the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) in Uganda, issued a call to action to African institutional investors to play a more active role in scaling African businesses,

stating: “If we don’t get into this space, it is going to be an existential threat for NSSF and many pension funds. We need to diversify away from overexposure to government assets and into the sectors where jobs are actually being created.”

The VC conference was followed by a dedicated Private Credit Summit introducing leading investors who are expanding the region’s private capital ecosystem with new financing tools, reshaping how the continent competes for global capital. Nathaniel Micklem, Co-Head, Emerging Market Alternative Credit, Ninety One, said, “Private credit is one of the most exciting parts of our asset management platform – but it cannot be built using imported public equity or private-equity instincts. What works in Africa is deploying into stronger, more resilient businesses and sectors, not earlier-stage ventures or smaller SME exposures.”

Walid Cherif, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, BluePeak Private Capital, concluded by saying: “Private credit is especially suited to African markets because companies continue to perform even when exits are hard to achieve. It is an easier conversation today than it was years ago.” He expressed that underwriting must remain thoughtful and selective as managers need to resist pressure to move too fast, because credibility with Limited Partners (LPs) comes from having executed the strategy over time and returned capital, not simply from a compelling market story.

May 4, 2026
AVCA announces Lagos to Host the Largest Africa-focussed Investment Event

…AVCA’s 4th Venture Capital Summit in Nigeria will look at how emerging sectors such as deep tech will drive the next era of VC growth in Africa

AVCA — The African Private Capital Association announced Lagos as the host city for the AVCA Annual Conference and Venture Capital Summit in 2025. After 10 years, Africa’s largest private capital gathering will return to the region’s largest economy, Nigeria. This follows the successful AVCA Conference and VC summit held in Johannesburg last week, which attracted 700+ delegates from more than 60 countries.

More than 300 delegates attended the 3^rd Annual VC Summit where panellists took stock of the global decline of VC funding and explored a range of solutions to catalyse growth. Speakers marked the influence of rapidly emerging technologies shaping African innovation and driving the digital economy, creating new skills and increasing efficiency, such as artificial intelligence, blockchain and quantum computing.

Speaking on the panel, ‘The DeepTech Potential in African Tech’, Andre Jr. Ayotte, Partner, Modus Capital, highlighted how founders can apply technology to build companies solving problems at scale. Despite progress in tech-enabled sectors, Nick Allen, Managing Partner, Savant, noted that gaps in Africa’s tertiary education system have led to a lack of skilled graduates with sufficient engineering knowledge. He added that in comparison to more developed markets such as Europe and the US, there is a lack of investors who understand how to finance deep tech in Africa.

Speaking during the panel, ‘Seasons Change: Lessons Learned in Winter and the Path to Spring’, panellists took stock of the global decline of funding within the VC ecosystem. Seasoned investor, Khaled Ben Jilani, Senior Partner, AfricInvest, raised the importance of active strategies to make businesses less capital intensive in order to anticipate new risks and navigate a lack of liquidity in the market. Steve Beck, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Novastar Ventures, expressed that private equity firms and development finance institutions (DFIs) with dedicated VC teams had stepped in to partially fill the funding gaps, particularly in the early stages.

Other panel highlights included ‘Catwalks, Canvases, & Choruses: Sector Spotlight on the Creative Industry’, ‘Debt Dynamics: Unlocking Liquidity with Venture Debt in Africa’,‘Green Ventures: VC for Climate’, ‘Founders First: Building a Platform for Success in African’ and ‘The Real Deal” – Venture Capital in the Real Economy’.

The VC summit saw participation from Africa-focussed venture capital funds, DFIs and global investors including AfricInvest, African Renaissance Partners, Aves Lair, Altree Capital, Breega, Enza Capital, European Investment Bank (EIB), Flat6Labs, LoftyInc Capital, Lightship Anchor Fund, Octerra Capital, Proparco, Savant, Sango Capital, Sawari Ventures, Standard Bank, TL Com Capital, USAID Prosper Africa, Ventures Platform, 500 Global, and more.

Looking ahead, Nigeria’s position at the forefront of venture capital and private equity investment in Africa, backed up by a tech-savvy population and the recent rise in local investment funds and angel investors, sets the scene for a dynamic summit in 2025.

Abi Mustapha-Maduakor, Chief Executive Officer, AVCA, said: “Nigeria has emerged over the last decade as an investment hotspot in Africa. The country’s entrepreneurial spirit and well-established pools of local capital gave rise to some of Africa’s earliest unicorns, particularly in the payments sector. As we wrap up the conference in Johannesburg, we look forward to our next event in a city that has played an equally catalytic role in Africa’s investment landscape”.

April 30, 2024
AVCA’s 20th Annual Conference calls for investment for a new era

…Reflections and projections to mobilise more private finance

The African Private Capital Association kicked off its 20th Annual Conference & VC Summit in Johannesburg yesterday. Institutional investors, fund managers, policymakers, global and local investors and entrepreneurs opened the major international gathering, convening 700+ private capital leaders from over 60 countries to align on strategies to power the next 20 years of Africa’s growth.

Abi Mustapha-Maduakor, Chief Executive Officer, AVCA, introduced the flagship forum by noting that despite a challenging macroeconomic environment in recent years, “Africa’s private capital industry has remained resilient and will continue to rise.” She reflected on AVCA’s theme for the conference – “embracing change and shaping the next era of Africa’s prosperity.”

Phuthuma Nhleko, Chairman and Co-Founder, Phembani Group, followed with an instructive keynote address rallying private investors to back innovative businesses to drive prosperity at scale. Reaffirming the region’s competitive edge, he highlighted the imperative for policymakers, business leaders and investors to harness the fourth industrial revolution, powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and the digital economy.

Calling for a new plan for the transformation ahead, he argued: “the size of population generates 50 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). By 2050, we will have 2.5 billion Africans that constitute over a quarter of humanity, with over forty per cent of youth below the age of 18. By this time, Nigeria’s population is expected to be bigger than the US.”

Characterised by periods of globalisation, innovation and the disruption required, the opening panel, ‘20/20 Vision: Reflections on the Last 20 years’, charted the industry’s evolution over the last two decades. ‘Tokunboh Ishmael, Co-founder and Managing Director, Alitheia Capital, described the exponential growth witnessed throughout the second decade of private capital expansion in Africa.

Despite clear signs of progress involving the increase in fund managers and assets under management (AUM), industry titans including Wale Adeosun, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Kuramo Capital Management and Vincent Le Guennou, Chief Executive Officer, Africa50’s Infrastructure Acceleration Fund, aligned that Africa’s private capital industry remains a nascent ecosystem with immense potential.

Wale Adeosun commented on the benefits of bringing institutional investors from the U.S into Africa. Vincent Le Guennou proposed that the traditional private equity model replicated in the continent needs to be adapted and advocated for proactive efforts to attract the US$ 2.3 trillion of domestic capital in Africa that needs to be unlocked. He said: “This needs to be a key objective for the next 10 years.”

Pension funds in Africa were highlighted as a vital source of capital to diversify funding and bridge the finance gap. During the panel, ‘The Long and Windy Road: The Journey to a Successful Fund Close’ Dieynaba Kamara, Partner and Chief Operating Officer, Joliba Capital, expressed that most pension funds needed “education on investing in private equity as an asset class”, especially in Francophone Africa where pension funds prioritise hard assets such as real estate. Jerry Parkes, Chief Executive Officer, Injaro Investments, re-emphasised the need to tap local pools of capital, drawing on Injaro’s launch of Ghana’s first private equity fund, anchored by Ghanaian pension funds.

Investors in Africa face a challenging market for exits due to less developed capital markets. Sharing insights on the panel entitled, ‘Out With the Old, In With the New: Innovative Models to Unlock Liquidity, Laurent Demey, Managing Partner, Amethis, suggested that historically, “The big difference between liquidity in Africa and Europe or the US, has been that if you have a good business, you can sell it. In Africa, it has been a different story”. Despite a lack of exit options, he noted a shift in the industry with far more African companies and investors from emerging markets, such as the Gulf states or Turkey, making deals compared to traditional investors from the Global North.

Perspectives to kickstart a secondaries market were covered in a panel entitled, ‘Charting New Horizons: Secondaries and Continuation Funds’. Prominent voices including Patrice Backer, Partner and Chief Investment Officer, AFIG Funds discussed the secondary market as a viable solution to liquidity constraints in African markets – attracting private finance yet to invest on the continent. John Owers, Director and Head of Funds Solutions, British International Investment, said: “A functioning private capital ecosystem needs to provide options for exits for Limited Partners (LPs), and that is what the secondary market does.”

AVCA announced the winners of the association’s 20th Anniversary Conference Awards, celebrating the outstanding firms and individuals championing private capital in Africa. The new awards feature categories and winners including:

All-rounder Award, International Finance Corporation (IFC); Beyond the Big Four Award, XSML Capital; Breaking Barriers Investor Award, Ziad Oueslati, Executive Founding Partner, AfricInvest; DEI Champion Award, Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund; ESG Champion Award, Development Partners International (DPI); Thought Leader Award, Albert Alsina, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Mediterrania Capital Partners; and Shapeshifter Award, Helios Investment Partners. The association also honoured Antoine Delaporte, Founder and Managing Partner, Adenia Partners, with the AVCA 20 Champion Award for his long-term commitment to championing AVCA’s mission to catalyse private capital in Africa.

The landmark event is sponsored by leading investors, including African Capital Alliance, Africa50 Infrastructure Partners, African Development Bank (AfDB), AfricInvest, African Infrastructure Investment Managers, Alitheia, ARAF, Benchmark International, BFA Asset Management, British International Investment, Clifford Chance, Convergence Partners, DLA Piper, Economic Development Board Mauritius, Flat6Labs, Founders Factory Africa, Jackson Etti & Edu, Janngo, Joliba Capital, Kigali International Financial Centre, KFW / DEG, Kuramo Capital Management, MCB, Mediterrania Capital Partners, Old Mutual Alternative Investments, New Forests, Norsad Capital, PE Front Office, Proparco Sawari Ventures, Soros Economic Development Fund, Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie, USAID, Verod, and Visa Foundation.

April 24, 2024
Retrospection & Prospection: Transforming Africa through Private Capital, AVCA’s Annual Conference returns to Cairo

Egyptian dignitaries, global capital allocators, fund managers, and entrepreneurs driving impact through private capital opened the African Private Capital Association’s (AVCA) 19th annual conference yesterday. The conference convened more than 600 key private capital allocators and deployers in Cairo from over 50 countries around the world, to exchange knowledge and unlock opportunities to transform Africa’s development.

Eng. Ahmed Samir, Minister of Trade and Industry, on behalf of Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister, inaugurated the conference’s return to Egypt after 14 years which kicked off AVCA’s week of discussions, networking and professional development. The Minister commended AVCA for its longstanding role as a facilitator of private investment in Africa, saying, “The conference aims to attract more economic activities to the African continent and achieve aspirations for development and growth in economies with immense opportunities.”

He continued by outlining the reforms Egypt has implemented to achieve economic growth, highlighting green hydrogen projects, electric vehicles, renewable energy, seawater desalination, and other areas being opened up for private investment. Eng. Samir said, “The Egyptian government is working to support investment in various fields and continues to strengthen cooperation with African countries, whether at the bilateral or regional level.”

Introducing the theme for this year’s conference, Retrospection & Prospection: Transforming Africa through Private Capital, Abi Mustapha-Maduakor, Chief Executive Officer, AVCA, said, “Our vision is bigger and bolder, and we are more determined to help build innovative, inclusive and sustainable economies in Africa. Gathering here this week allows us to strategise and make AVCA’s vision a reality.”

The fire-side chat, 60 Seconds with U.S Capital Allocators, including Joseph Boateng, Chief Investment Officer, Casey Family Programs and Nadine Mentor Williams, Senior Managing Director, MiDA Advisors, discussed how value creation is achieved by establishing a presence on the ground. The presence of Prosper Africa reinforced the views traded in the panel. Prosper Africa, The U.S. Government initiative to increase two-way trade and investment between the USA and African countries led a high-level U.S. institutional investor delegation to Cairo and attended AVCA’s conference.

The conference progressed with a panel on Unlocking Opportunities for Private Capital in Africa: Navigating Global Uncertainty. Speakers reflected on how the private investment landscape globally and in Africa reacted to 2022: a year of unprecedented global uncertainty with rising inflation and cost of living, supply chain disruptions and a global macroeconomic downturn.

During the session, panellists, including Okey Enelamah, Chairman & Co-Founder, African Capital Alliance (ACA), shared approaches to maintaining a competitive portfolio amidst a threatening global recession. Skander Oueslati, Deputy Managing Director, Partner & Chief Investment Officer, AfricInvest, expressed that building a comprehensive pipeline of opportunities was as important as understanding how to support companies through challenges and negotiations.

Emphasising that throughout the past 25 years, private investors in Africa have withstood more challenging macroeconomic cycles than faced in recent years, Runa Alam, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Development Partners International (DPI), cited the imperative of solutions that help digitise companies, capitalise on a new era of population growth and the energy transition, and respond to challenges posed by foreign exchange volatility.

Insisting that every crisis presents opportunities through introspection, Runa Alam urged delegates to plan exit strategies from day one. She continued by saying, “We need to be hands-on investors that build teams with expertise and reflect on our capabilities as requirements evolve over time.” She prompted GPs to ask themselves “whether your skill set matches your strategy and whether it will make sustainable returns and deliver development.“

These perspectives were followed by the panel, Exploring the Timeless Treasures and Investment Opportunities in North Africa, wherepanellists including Luc Rigouzzo, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Amethis, acknowledged how North Africa’s private capital landscape has evolved. With over US$12bn worth of private capital deals being executed in the last two decades, panellists lauded the resilience of local investors with deep expertise and presence on the ground. Speakers also examined the role governments play in preparing the ground for investment, citing countries whose Sovereign Wealth Funds catalyse private investment.

Isabelle Bébéar, Director, Head of International & European Affairs, Bpifrance, made a case for French companies developing relations with North African companies, and despite stating that Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) also create new conditions to invest and professionalise the marketplace, she added that “DFIs could do more to encourage local market investments.”

Commenting that investors want the assurance that domestic investors are participating in the local environment, Hany Assaad, Co-Founder and Chief Portfolio and Risk Officer, Avanz Capital, noted, “This is a strong indicator of the quality of investments on the ground. Therefore, we must focus on attracting more domestic investors to invest in our local markets.”

During the LPs at the Core of Private Capital in Africa session, speakers including Nicholas Vickery, Global Head, Private Equity Funds, International Finance Corporation and Jeremie Ceyrac, Global Head Private Equity, Proparco, exchanged views on ways to diversify capital generation sources for Africa’s private capital funds and pathways that lead commercial capital to alternative asset classes on the continent. Fellow panellist Catherine Cax, Managing Director, Investments, Soros Economic Development Fund, Open Society Foundations, said that a robust secondary market can help to crowd in more capital as can funds with smaller ticket sizes, commenting, “US$25mn fund or ticket sizes can return capital to investors and create impact, we should not be singularly focused on the larger ticket sizes.”

Panellists, including Samuel Akyianu, Chief of Party, Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund; Fatoumata Ba, Founder and Executive Chair, Janngo Capital; and Amine Allam, Managing Director, Admaius Capital Partners, outlined the significant investment potential in frontier markets in Africa. Theyexpressed that reducing exposure to the currency volatility in powerhouse economies such as Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, and Kenya could realise the potential of other promising markets by generating higher long-term returns, once fully developed. Jacop B. Rentschler, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Zoscales Partners said, “There’s an opportunity to invest in new champions of their industries – many can be drivers of growth.”

Nadia Kouassi Coulibaly, Head of Research, AVCA, unpacked findings from Africa’s climate policy and green financing landscape as an introduction to AVCA’s upcoming report with the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.

The penultimate panel, Transitioning to a Green Economy, underscored the partnerships that will advance Africa’s green agenda. Stating that the global transition will be a multi-trillion dollar effort, Tariye Gbadegesin, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer ARM-Harith Infrastructure Investment, argued that it must involve all the people at the funding table to achieve ambitious targets. Chinua Azubike, Chief Executive Officer, InfraCredit, echoed this sentiment, saying, “We need to see more coordination and collaboration to share risk and back existing innovative solutions that can scale, rather than reinventing the wheel. We are running out of time.”

The session, Creating Value for Successful Exits, closed on the first day of the conference, where Stephane Bacquaert, Managing Partner, Adenia Partners; Chumani Kula, Co-Head: Old Mutual Private Equity, Old Mutual Alternative Investments; Mezuo Nwuneli, Managing Partner, Sahel Capital; and Aliya Shariff, Managing Director, Rohatyn Group discussed when and how exits should be conceptualised in the lifecycle of a fund, particularly in the current environment. Panellists unanimously agreed on the importance of clarity on what is achievable and how best to bring it to fruition – concluding on the merit of a well-defined exit strategy from the outset of an investment.

The clarity they sought was apparent throughout the day – an interest uniting Africa’s private capital players committed to transforming its economy and making the improvements necessary to realise its potential.

The conference continues today with panels on pertinent issues which are a priority for Africa-focused investors, including Diversity, Equality & Inclusion in Private Capital, featuring Nieros Oyegun Soerensen, Partner and Chief Operating Officer, Verod Capital Management Vymala, Thuron, Deputy Chief of Party, Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund and Sarah Ngamau, Managing Director, Kuramo Capital Management; Leveraging Private Credit to Support Growth in Africa, featuring Hani Ibrahim, Chief Investment Officer, Lendable and Orli Arav Managing Director, Lion’s Head Global Partners.

Throughout the day, delegates will curate their AVCA conference experience by joining thematic streams covering healthcare, renewable energy, food security, and Africa’s flourishing creative economy. The conference will close with the panel, Straight From the Source: LP Perspectives on Private Capital in Africa, where Abdalla Elebiary, Chief Investment Officer, The Sovereign Fund of Egypt (TSFE) and Richard Okello, Co-Founder & Partner, Sango Capital, will share their insights.

May 3, 2023
AVCA set to host Second Venture Capital Summit & Anounces New Board Members

Following the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association’s (AVCA) successful 18th Annual Conference, held from Tuesday 26^th – Wednesday 27^th April, the association introduced its second Venture Capital (VC) in Africa summit on Thursday 28th April. The conference convened over 500 leaders in the private equity (PE) and venture capital industry to discuss emerging trends and strategies to maintain sustainable growth of VC investment in Africa.

‘Tokunboh Ishmael, co-Founder and Managing Director, Alitheia Capital, opened the summit with a welcome address where she described the surge of international interest in Africa’s thriving VC sector as a decisive opportunity to learn from Africa’s evolving private equity ecosystem over the years. She said, “There is still much to learn from African PE. We have the investors and skill to solve some of the continent’s most pressing problems.”

Advocating for knowledge exchange and deeper collaboration in a growing industry, she continued by saying: “Let’s use the insight and expertise that has catalysed success across geographies to unlock the scale and growth of more bright ideas and ambitious companies leaping us further into the future. I can’t wait to see the next 20 years of Africa’s PE and VC landscape.”

The summit proceeded with a panel charting the development of Africa’s early-stage investment landscape over the years, unpacking how it has become a recognised and distinguished investment class.

Speakers including Tarek Assaad, Managing Partner, Algebra Ventures; Maurizio Caio, Founder and Managing Partner, TLcom Capital; Michael Oluwagbemi, Co-Fund Manager, LoftyInc Capital Management; and Shruti Chandrasekhar, Regional Head, Africa, International Finance Corporation, exchanged perspectives on the continent’s expanding technology ecosystems; trading views on how to bridge the “valley of death” that ensnares so many high-potential African start-ups and addressed the increasing participation of private equity firms in the venture capital space.

Maurizio Caio, Founder and Managing Partner, TLcom Capital, commented: “It’s important that we focus on how to make sure that the ecosystem’s growth is healthy. Let’s turn the excitement from capital deployment into an impetus that makes sure global capital investors see VC in Africa as the destination to go to. More PE investors should allocate capital to VC.”

A conversation exploring the concept of unicorns harked back to 2021, a year that saw a record four African start-ups reach billion+ dollar valuations. VC champions Tidjane Deme, General Partner, Partech; Hany Al-Sonbaty, Managing Partner, Sawari Ventures; Khaled Ben Jilani, Senior Partner, AfricInvest and Brian Waswani Odhiambo, West Africa Director, Novastar Ventures examined the business models attracting high-level investor interest as well as the prospects for the industry seeing similar stories of success in the future.

The summit continued with a series of plenary sessions centred on how early-stage VC investors are faring in Africa’s growing late-stage market; diversity, equality and inclusion; and workshops focussed on data, governance, and effective solutions to navigate complex country-specific and regional financial, legal, and regulatory frameworks.

The summit progressed with an entrepreneur showcase and sessions addressing the implications for the diversification of capital streams. Thabiso Foto, Chief Financial Officer, Founders Factory Africa; Ory Okolloh, Partner, Verod Kepple Africa Ventures; Nthabiseng Thema, Director, Sango Capital, and Folake Elias-Adebowale, Partner, Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie discussed strategies to overcome the bottlenecks – posing viable routes for corporate ventures, investment holding companies, fund of funds and private equity firms to crowd into the early-stage investing space.

In a panel bringing together global perspectives speakers addressed the market drivers for Africa’s continued attractiveness to international investors, the rising diversification of actors in Africa’s VC ecosystem, and the spread of corporate venture capital supporting new and dynamic entrepreneurial ventures in Africa.

Highlighting the vast opportunities within a flourishing and nascent VC ecosystem in Africa, Ben Marrel, Managing Partner, Breega, said: “It is undeniable – Africa has strong demographics. Like all markets, they are never perfect – but it’s important to identify how massive problems can be transferred into massive opportunities, and this is how pioneering companies are formed.”

As AVCA marks the onward journey ahead for a private capital industry at an inflexion point, the association announces new Board Chairs and Committee Members. Accordingly, the Board of Directors of the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA) has appointed Paul Botha as Chair; Genevieve Sangudi as Vice-Chair; Mark Kenderdine-Davies and Jennifer Mbaluto as Chair, and Co-Chair of the Legal & Regulatory Committee (LRC), effective immediately.

Abi Mustapha-Maduakor, Chief Executive Officer, AVCA, added: “I am delighted to have Paul and Genevieve as AVCA’s Chair and Vice-Chair. Their support as existing Board members, and their extensive knowledge and experience in the industry, will be invaluable as we lead AVCA towards delivering on our ambitious goals for 2022 and beyond. I would also like to thank the outgoing Chair, ‘Tokunboh Ishmael, and Vice-Chair, Ziad Oueslati, for their unwavering commitment, support and leadership of AVCA over the past four years. AVCA is unquestionably stronger for their contributions.

She added: “Additionally, I am delighted to welcome Mark and Jennifer as AVCA’s LRC Co-Chairs. Their collective experience and deep expertise will be instrumental in defining the committee’s deliverables over the coming months. Our appreciation to the outgoing LRC Committee Chair, Geoffrey Burgess, for his outstanding commitment and valuable guidance over the past five years.”

May 6, 2022