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.