The Africa Finance Corporation, a multilateral finance institution established to catalyse private sector-led infrastructure investment across the region, has approved a USD 100 million commitment to Africa-focused technology fund managers, marking a push to increase the role of local institutional capital in the continent’s innovation ecosystem. In doing so, AFC aims to address the underrepresentation of African capital in venture funding and catalyse greater participation from local institutional investors.
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The funding will be allocated across several Africa-owned venture capital funds investing in sectors including fintech, healthtech, logistics, climate technologies, and agritech. While the announcement is not agriculture-specific, it represents an important signal for agritech startups in the region, where fundraising conditions remain challenging. Among the selected funds is Future Africa Fund III. Future Africa’s broader investment track record includes agriculture-related ventures such as ThriveAgric and Farmcrowdy.
For agritech, the announcement is less about immediate funding and more about who controls the flow of capital. As African institutions take a larger role in financing local innovation, they may also play a greater role in shaping which technologies, business models, and startups receive support. More broadly, AFC’s initiative reflects an effort to deepen local ownership within Africa’s innovation ecosystem and reduce dependence on external sources of venture capital.