The African Private Capital Association (AVCA), urged for increased investment to support  what they refer to as Africa’s new era of growth.

This was stated at the AVCA 20th Annual Conference & VC Summit in Johannesburg, with the ‘embracing change and shaping the next era of Africa’s prosperity, Institutional investors, fund managers, and entrepreneurs who came together to drive the growth of Africa over the next two decades.

The AVCA conference theme was ‘Embracing change and shaping the next era of Africa’s prosperity’.

Phuthuma Nhleko, the Chairman and co-founder of Phembani Group, urged on all private investors to back innovative businesses to drive prosperity at scale.

He emphasize the imperative for policymakers, business leaders, and investors to harness the fourth industrial revolution, powered by artificial intelligence and the digital economy.

He argued, “The size of the population generates 50 per cent of Gross Domestic Product. By 2050, we will have 2.5 billion Africans constituting over a quarter of humanity, with over 40 per cent of youth below the age of 18. By this time, Nigeria’s population is expected to be bigger than the US.”

Abi Mustapha-Maduakor, the Chief Executive Officer of AVCA, stated that despite a challenging macroeconomic environment in recent years, “Africa’s private capital industry has remained resilient and will continue to rise”.

“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,” Mustapha-Maduakor stated.

Also speaking, Wale Adeosun, the founder/CEO of Kuramo Capital Management, discussed on the benefit of bringing institutional investors from the U.S. in to Africa.

Additionally, Vincent Le Guennou, CEO of Africa50’s Infrastructure Acceleration Fund, suggested that the conventional private equity model that is replicated across the continent need to be modified.

He advocated for proactive efforts to attract the US$ 2.3tn of domestic capital in Africa that needs to be unlocked.

“This needs to be a key objective for the next 10 years,” he averred.

Pension funds were highlighted as a vital source of capital to diversify funding and bridge the finance gap, during the conference.

During the panel session, ‘The Long and Windy Road: The Journey to a Successful Fund Close’, Partner and Chief Operating Officer of Joliba Capital, Dieynaba Kamara, expressed that most pension funds needed education on investing in private equity as an asset class, especially in Francophone AfAfrica,here pension funds prioritise hard assets such as real estate.