Tag: Co-Founder and Managing Partner

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
IFC, Proparco and Helios plan partnership to support Africa’s sports and entertainment sectors

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has announced plans to partner with the French development finance institution Proparco, a subsidiary of the Agence Française de Développement Group (AFD Group), and Helios Sports and Entertainment Group to drive the expansion of sports and entertainment in Africa. The partnership would focus on exploring joint investment opportunities that can help grow economies and support jobs in the region through sectors that have the potential to bring dynamism, youth employment, value-added exports, and that also can strengthen ancillary sectors such as tourism, real estate, creative economies, and media.

A partnership with Helios Sports and Entertainment would offer an opportunity for IFC and Proparco to jointly address a long history of limited financing in Africa’s creative sectors, including sports and entertainment, and catalyze private sector development in the region.

“The African sports and entertainment are promising routes to accelerate growth and scale innovation on the continent. Africa is a key market in IFC’s creative industries strategy, targeting many verticals, such as e-commerce, arts and craft, fashion, audiovisual content, technology, and now sports and entertainment. Joining forces with partners like Proparco and Helios will lead to scalable opportunities to transform the creative economy in Africa, encourage local talent and drive homegrown development,” said Makhtar Diop, Managing Director, IFC.

The global sports market, valued at $480.12 billion in 2023, is expected to reach $629.81 billion in 2028, driven by strong growth in emerging markets. According to a study by UNESCO, every $1 invested in a sporting intervention yields as much as $124 in economic value given the large ecosystem the sector supports. However, in Africa, sports represent only 0.5 per cent of GDP compared to 2 per cent of GDP in other parts of the world. The industry also faces inadequate financing, limited expertise, and major infrastructure gaps.

Similarly, the potential for growth in Africa’s entertainment sector is substantial. Globally, the entertainment sector is projected to reach $2.9 trillion by 2027 from $2.1 trillion in 2023, driven by technological advancements and increased content consumption. According to PwC’s Global Entertainment and Media Outlook, every $1 invested in the entertainment sector generates $9 in economic value due to its expansive ecosystem, which includes production, distribution, marketing, and consumption.

“The AFD Group has been dedicating more financial and human resources to support cultural and creative industries in the African continent, industries that play a catalytic role for social cohesion and inclusive local development. By supporting private partners, such as Helios Sports and Entertainment Group, Proparco is stepping-up its commitment to cultural and creative industries as well as celebrating Africa’s creativity,” said Françoise Lombard, Chief Executive Officer, Proparco.

With a young and rapidly urbanizing population eager for diverse content, the audiovisual entertainment industry could create over 20 million jobs and contribute $20 billion to the continent’s combined GDP, according to UNESCO. Addressing these barriers is crucial for unlocking this potential and fostering a conducive environment for creativity and investment.

“Helios has for over two decades exclusively focused on harnessing the wealth of investment opportunities in Africa, generating both competitive returns and real socio-economic impact. The creation of the Helios Sports and Entertainment Group is a demonstration of our unwavering passion for Africa and its people and the continuation of the Helios investment strategy, creating unique investment opportunities in sports and entertainment across a broad spectrum from seeding start-ups to providing companies with growth capital and expertise, building profitable and responsible private enterprises. We are excited to partner with IFC and Proparco on our journey to develop and build the sports and entertainment ecosystem in Africa,” said Tope Lawani, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Helios Investment Partners LLP.

Over the past 18 months, IFC has deployed more than $830 million to support the creative industries across emerging markets, including in ANKA, also a Proparco investee company and an Ivorian e-commerce platform for African creators and merchants. These investments are expected to generate new jobs and economic opportunities, particularly for young people and women.

On its end, the AFD Group has already committed more than $200 million towards sport infrastructures and social events on the African continent. Proparco, its subsidiary dedicated to the private sector, has more recently sought to design innovative instruments to support the emergence of start-ups and young businesses contributing to this agenda, such as the Creafund guarantee programme, with the support of the European Union, to encourage investment funds to support creative industries on the continent.

July 28, 2024
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
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