Africa’s venture capital ecosystem is often described as fast-growing. Yet a closer look reveals a structurally uneven market, shaped by concentration, perception effects, and shifting financing dynamics. This article explores the mechanisms that determine who gets funded and why.
Using Causal Layered Analysis, this piece examines why impact investing remains marginal (managing $1.57 trillion vs. mainstream finance) accross four layers : information gaps burdening emerging market entrepreneurs, fiduciary norms treating sustainability as optional, worldview biases that privilege quantifiable metrics over relational/cultural change, and a narrative positioning profit and purpose as fundamentally opposed.
This insight emerged as part of my work as a founding member of the Youth Community of Practice (Youth CoP) – funded by the European Union, where I explored a recurring question at the intersection of finance, sustainability and youth engagement :
Is access to sustainable finance primarily an education problem ? Or does resistance originate at a deeper, systemic level?
When America sneezes, the world catches a cold. This saying has never felt more relevant in our global society. We’ve all heard of companies backing down from DEI initiatives in the US ?
This raises a question: what happens to global progress on DEI when the country that conceptualized the notion no longer wants to use it?
During a networking event, we met an interior designer. She was curious about making her business more sustainable. Throughout the entire conversation, she never asked about regulations or standards. She only had one focus : her customers.
And that made us think : what if we’ve been looking at things the wrong way ?
