Africa leads on private capital diversity, women still get less money

The narrative surrounding African venture capital has been defined by a disparity of female founders receiving only a fraction of the funding secured by their male counterparts. 

Per data from TechCabal Insights, women-led startups raised $48 million in funding in 2024, compared to over $2 billion by their male peers, and only 10% of female-founded startups in Nigeria secured funding between 2019 and 2023. 

The African Private Capital Association (AVCA), a pan-African organisation that promotes investments in Africa, released a new report in January 2026 that exposes a counter-narrative. The report reveals that while the recipients of capital remain predominantly male, the people writing the cheques on the continent are increasingly female, and at rates that outperform the rest of the world.

The AVCA report, Gender Diversity in African Private Capital, draws from a dataset of 218 investors that manage nearly 2,000 portfolio companies to show that in Africa’s private equity ecosystem, women make up 44% of the total workforce and 38% of investment professionals. 

The figure exceeds the global average, where women account for about 35% of investment teams, as well as the regional average in Europe (24%). 

This diversity extends to the Investment Committees (ICs), the people who make final funding decisions, where women hold 33% of committee seats in Africa, nearly triple the global average of 12%.

AVCA’s report shows a correlation between who sits on these committees and who ultimately receives funding. 

Firms with majority-female investment committees allocate capital to women-led companies at higher rates (48% of their portfolio companies), compared to the 8% among male-dominated firms. It begs the question: If Africa has achieved relative success in diversifying who allocates capital, why does the funding landscape remain so skewed?

The report highlights a structural disconnect stemming from the firm’s size. The highest gender diversity in private equity and venture capital firms is concentrated in smaller firms, which manage less capital, limiting their influence on aggregate funding flows. 

Larger firms, which are still more likely to have male-dominated investment committees, deploy the lion’s share of capital on the continent, which continues to shape the broader funding environment.

Beyond the moral argument for inclusion, AVCA’s data presents an economic case for gender-diverse leadership. 

The report found that between 2023 and 2024, female-led portfolio companies grew their revenue by 32%, while male-led peers saw a growth of 14%. 

The data also revealed that women-founded companies employ an average of 52% women, compared to just 30% for male-founded firms, showing that diversity at the decision-making level has measurable effects on employment and financial performance.

The new data suggests that Africa has laid a foundation for gender diversity that is stronger than many developed markets. As the industry matures, the challenge will be ensuring that the strategies championed by a cohort of female-led firms leading the charge to close the funding disparity gap will be adopted by the continent’s largest capital allocators. Among this cohort of female-led firms are:

Aruwa Capital Management

The Lagos-based equity fund, founded in 2019 by Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes, invests in businesses that provide essential goods and services to women or are founded by women. In April 2025, the firm raised $35 million and has invested in 11 companies, including an $11 million Series A funding round by cold-chain logistics provider, Koolboks, a $1.5m investment in safety footwear manufacturer Yikodeen, a $2m investment in Fastizers, a Nigeria-based biscuits and snacks manufacturer, and a $20 million Series A funding by OmniRetail, a Nigerian B2B e-commerce startup.

Ingressive Capital

Maya Horgan Famodu founded Ingressive Capital in 2017 as a seed-stage venture fund that connects African startups with global capital and business development opportunities. 

Ingressive Capital has backed some of the continent’s most successful startups, including participating in a $15 million Series A round for fintech Mono, a $1.8 million pre-seed funding round in Cameroonian fintech REasy, and leading a $1.1 million seed round for Egyptian insurtech SehaTech. In 2020, the firm unveiled a $10 million fund for high-growth tech startups, doubling the size of its investments. 

Alitheia Capital

Alitheia Capital, co-founded in 2007 by Tokunboh Ishmael and Olajumoke Akinwunmi, invests in growth-stage small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that are women-led, women-owned, or serve the women’s economy. 

Alitheia Capital manages the $100 million Alitheia IDF fund, which stands as the largest gender-lens private equity fund in Africa that invests in and grows SMEs led by gender-diverse teams. The firm has led significant financing rounds, including an $11 million investment in South African home services platform SweepSouth and a $3 million Series A round for Nigerian agri-processor Reelfruit. Alitheia also led the $3 million seed round for logistics platform Haul247 in 2023.

Janngo Capital

Fatoumata Bâ’s Janngo Capital, founded in 2018, is one of Africa’s largest gender-equal venture capital funds, having closed its second fund at approximately $78 million in 2024. The firm has a strong track record of backing market-leading companies, including Sabi, a B2B e-commerce platform, in a $38 million Series B funding round and Expensya, a fintech startup, in a $9 million seed round for its subsidiary, Thunder Code.

Most recently, it led the funding round for Moroccan HR-tech startup Jobzyn in an undisclosed pre-seed round, continuing its mandate to invest 50% of its capital in women-led businesses.

Sahara Impact Ventures

Based in Ghana, founded in 2020, and led by managing partners Yvonne Ofosu-Appiah and Mandy Nyarko, the firm is an investment advisory and venture fund that backs early-stage African SMEs that are improving climate resilience and access to essential services. The firm recently backed Wahu Mobility, a Ghanaian electric bike manufacturer, to support its goal of deploying 117,000 EVs by 2030,  and invested in Medpharma Alliance, a digital health platform. It also backed Agriarche, a platform that addresses post-harvest challenges that constrain income and sustainability for smallholder farmers. Its strategy targets the intersection of gender and climate action.

Chui Ventures

Led by Joyce-Ann Wainaina and founded in 2021, Chui Ventures recently closed its debut fund at $17.3 million and focuses on backing African founders building mass-market solutions in sectors like fintech, healthtech, and logistics. It has already deployed capital into 18 startups across five countries, including participating in a $1.3 million seed funding round for Nigerian online grocery platform Pricepally. It also participated in a $3 million pre-seed funding round for Leta, a Kenyan supply chain software company, and closed a $1.4 million seed funding round for a Kenyan tech-enabled emerging beauty brand, Uncover.

Five35 Ventures

Five35 Ventures, founded in 2020, is a Pan-African VC firm with a specific mandate to invest in female-focused and tech-enabled startups at the pre-seed and seed stages. It secured an undisclosed amount of funding in December 2025 to support its mandate of backing gender-diverse teams and has deployed capital into multiple high-potential startups. Its portfolio includes a participation in the $1.3 million pre-seed round for Kenyan transport-tech startup BuuPass.