Africa Finance Corporation Commits $100 Million to Continent’s Tech Fund Ecosystem

The investment targets a structural gap in African venture funding — the chronic underrepresentation of local institutional capital — with anchor commitments to Lightrock Africa Fund II and Future Africa Fund III.

Key points

• AFC approves up to $100 million to invest in Africa-focused technology fund managers, prioritising African-owned vehicles
• Anchor commitments made to Lightrock Africa Fund II and Future Africa Fund III as the first tranche of deployment
• Initiative aims to catalyse broader participation from African institutional investors in the continent’s venture ecosystem

Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has approved a commitment of up to $100 million to invest in Africa-focused technology funds, with a deliberate emphasis on African-owned fund managers. The move targets one of the continent’s most persistent structural gaps: the chronic underrepresentation of local institutional capital in venture funding at a time when Africa’s digital economy is expanding rapidly.

As part of the initial deployment, AFC has made anchor commitments to Lightrock Africa Fund II and Future Africa Fund III — positioning the corporation across the full innovation lifecycle, from early-stage venture capital through to growth-stage scaling.

The Investment Signal

For AFC President and CEO Samaila Zubairu, the rationale is straightforward. « Across the continent, young Africans are not waiting for the digital economy to arrive — they are seizing the moment, adopting technology, creating markets and solving real economic problems faster than infrastructure has kept pace. That is the investment signal. »

Zubairu framed digital infrastructure as categorically equivalent to physical infrastructure in its importance to the continent’s transformation. « Digital infrastructure is now as fundamental to Africa’s transformation as roads, rail, ports and power — enabling productivity, payments, logistics, services, data and cross-border trade, while creating jobs and industrial scale. »

Two Funds, One Thesis

The anchor commitment to Lightrock Africa Fund II builds on an existing partnership between AFC and Lightrock that has already produced investments in high-profile African companies, including Moniepoint, Lula, and M-KOPA. « This commitment reflects a shared conviction in the opportunity to back high-growth, technology-enabled businesses with proven business models, strong fundamentals, and clear pathways to profitability, » said Pal Erik Sjatil, Managing Partner and CEO of Lightrock.

The commitment to Future Africa Fund III carries a different but complementary logic. Future Africa backs founders building technology-enabled solutions to Africa’s most pressing challenges, with a portfolio that includes some of the continent’s most celebrated tech companies. For founding partner Iyin Aboyeji, the AFC commitment represents a watershed moment.

« As our first multilateral development bank partner, AFC is sending a clear signal that digital is as fundamental to Africa’s transformation as agriculture, manufacturing and physical infrastructure, » Aboyeji said. « We trust that other development finance institutions, insurers, reinsurers and pension funds will follow AFC’s lead. »

A Catalytic Bet

The two initial commitments represent the first tranche of a broader deployment, with AFC actively evaluating a pipeline of additional Africa-focused funds. The deeper ambition is systemic: by anchoring African-owned fund managers with institutional capital, AFC hopes to unlock a broader shift in which African pension funds, insurers, and development finance institutions follow suit — gradually rebalancing a venture ecosystem that has historically been dominated by foreign capital chasing African opportunity.