Private equity has not been the catalyst for growth in Africa that everyone had hoped. There have been success stories in terms of funds (e.g. Ethos, Abraaj) and companies (e.g. Ethiopia’s Afriflora, South Africa’s Tekkie Town), but speak to any capital provider and they will tell you: the standard private equity model is not structurally sound for the African ecosystem – as evident by the large amount of dry powder, too few deals, limited human capital to run portfolio companies, and constrained levers for liquidity events.
So, can we deconstruct the Find-Fund-Support value chain to build a new model for investing in Africa?
Leave a Reply