Pan-African venture capital fund, Ventures Platform, which backs early-stage startups, used last week's Africa Prosperity Summit in Lagos to push an argument many investors have been whispering for years, confronting the reality that Africa's funding story is maturing, but exits are not.
The three-day gathering of more than 250 fund managers, founders and policy people focused on a single problem investors say will determine whether capital on the continent converts into durable wealth.
Ventures Platform's Kola Aina told attendees that closing Africa's "liquidity gap" is not merely about pumping in capital but building companies that are acquisition-ready, improving listing pipelines and finding continent-specific exit mechanisms.