Firm advocates long-term capital for young entrepreneurs

The Founder of Ventures Platform, Kola Aina, has emphasised that while Africa’s entrepreneurial ecosystem offers significant growth potential, realising this potential requires long-term venture capital investment and a deeper understanding of local contexts.

Aina, who leads the early-stage VC fund investing in innovative startups across Africa, made these remarks at the second edition of the Africa Prosperity Summit held recently in Lagos.

He underscored the challenges the continent faces, noting the rapid population growth in Africa amid a global decline in venture capital investment.

The summit, which explored the theme “Funding the Next Billion: Africa’s VC Investment Landscape in a Post-ZIRP Era,” attracted over 150 global investors, venture fund managers, family offices, and key ecosystem players.
“Africa’s massive population boom is happening at the same time global venture capital is on the decline,” Aina noted in a statement.

He pointed out that global VC funding has dropped by 70 per cent since the post-COVID peak of 2021, driven by the end of the Zero Interest Rate Policy era.

The investor also emphasised the difficulty in securing sufficient funding for Africa’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, with the continent facing a 67 per cent drop in venture capital despite needing 10 times more capital to address critical infrastructure gaps and meet the demand for goods and services.
Without addressing this challenge, Aina warned, Africa could see chronic non-consumption among its growing population by 2050.

Aina urged investors to focus on funding innovation and entrepreneurship that can generate high-quality jobs and expand access to affordable products and services. “The combination of these two forces is an effective way of driving up consumption across Africa,” he said, calling on summit attendees to leave the event inspired and committed to shaping the future of Africa’s economy.

He stated, “Africa’s massive population boom is happening at the same time global venture capital is on a decline. Since the post-COVID peak of venture capital investments in 2021 -influenced by the ZIRP era – global venture capital flows have declined by 70 per cent.

“The situation in Africa is no better – Africa has experienced a 67 per cent decline in venture capital funding, despite its requirement of 10x more capital to address infrastructure gaps and non-consumption and be at par with Asia in terms of VC investments.

“As a result, Africans are simply unable to consume the goods and services that they need, talk less of want. If we do nothing about this today, by 2050, the 1 billion Africans that will be born – will end up being chronic non-consumers.

He continued, “At Ventures Platform, we believe that by investing in the right kinds of entrepreneurship and innovation.

“We can produce two powerful outcomes – high quality jobs that will drive up incomes across Africa, and scaling up affordability and accessibility to products/services for millions of people across Africa. The combination of these two powerful forces is an effective way of driving up consumption across Africa.”