African governments, development finance institutions and global climate leaders call for high-integrity markets, investment-ready projects and greater value for African communities.

KIGALI, Rwanda, 14 October 2026 – Africa must move beyond carbon market potential towards delivery, building high-integrity, investable markets that attract long-term capital while protecting national climate priorities and ensuring greater value reaches African countries and communities.

That was the central message from the opening keynote sessions of the Carbon Markets Africa Summit (CMAS) 2026 in Kigali, Rwanda, where policymakers, investors, project developers, development finance institutions and international climate organisations gathered to accelerate Africa’s participation in global carbon markets.

Representatives from 45 countries, including 21 African nations, are participating in the summit, where discussions have shifted decisively from market readiness to implementation, investment and transactions.

Officially opening the summit, Hon. Dr Bernadette Arakwiye, Rwanda’s Minister of Environment, said Africa’s carbon markets must be shaped by African priorities and deliver tangible benefits for the continent.

“The question before us is therefore no longer simply whether Africa is ready. It is whether we can deliver at scale, with integrity and with innovation.”

Minister Arakwiye said progress is already evident as African countries establish carbon market frameworks, grant authorisations, sign bilateral agreements and develop projects. However, she cautioned that carbon finance remains concentrated in a relatively narrow range of project types. She called for diversification into renewable energy, electric mobility, sustainable waste management, industrial decarbonisation, agriculture and landscape-scale nature-based solutions.

Minister Arakwiye identified three priorities for scaling Africa’s carbon markets: accessible methodologies suited to African contexts; project preparation and readiness finance; and long-term demand at fair value.

“Trust is the currency of this market,” she said. “To our buyers and investors, I say: look closely at these efforts. Reward them with long-term demand, fair prices and patient capital.”

From potential to execution

The call for delivery was echoed by Hon. Hamad Yusuf Masauni, Tanzania’s Minister of State in the Vice President’s Office responsible for Union Affairs and Environment, who said the continent now has an opportunity to reposition itself in global carbon markets.

“For too long, Africa has been spoken about as a continent of potential. At the Carbon Markets Africa Summit, we declare that the era of potential is giving way to the era of execution.”

Minister Masauni stressed the importance of moving high-quality, bankable projects through to issuance and offtake rather than focusing solely on the size of project pipelines.

“Credibility is built one verified tonne, one closed deal and one community that sees real benefit at a time.”

The importance of ensuring value reaches communities was also central to remarks from Maxwell Gomera, UNDP Resident Representative in South Africa and Director of the Africa Sustainable Finance Hub.

Gomera called for market infrastructure capable of carrying value “from the buyer all the way to the farmer”, backed by strong community rights, enforceable benefit-sharing, early-stage finance and partnerships focused on delivery.

Africa urged to compete on integrity, not price

Speakers also stressed that Africa’s competitive advantage should be the quality and integrity of its carbon assets rather than simply offering the lowest-priced credits.

Perumal Arumugam, Manager of Markets and Non-Markets and Stakeholder Interaction at UN Climate Change (UNFCCC), said Africa should move beyond asking how it can participate in carbon markets and instead consider how carbon markets can advance African priorities.

“Africa should not compete simply by offering the cheapest tonnes. Africa should compete by offering credible and creditable tonnes, a sustainable tonne, and a tonne that the world can trust.”

He said success should ultimately be measured not only in credits issued, but in investment mobilised, mitigation unlocked, value reaching communities, stronger economies and African countries retaining control over their climate transitions.

Speaking on behalf of AUDA-NEPAD, Esterine Fotabong similarly called for African countries to scale carbon markets on their own terms, supported by predictable authorisations, functioning registries and credible monitoring, reporting and verification systems.

She also highlighted the need to build greater African capacity in validation and verification and expand access to carbon finance in sectors such as agriculture.

Global demand will reward quality

Representing the European Commission, Lukas Visek, Deputy Head of the Directorate-General for Climate Action Task Force for Carbon Pricing and Carbon Markets, signaled future European demand for international carbon credits while stressing that quality requirements would be stringent.

“Additionality and permanence are not negotiable,” he said. “Quality, however, will be rewarded.”

The message to developers was clear: projects being developed for future international demand will need robust data, genuine additionality, strong community participation and demonstrable alignment with national and global climate goals.

Turning carbon projects into investable assets

The summit’s opening programme then moved directly from policy to capital and deal flow, with leaders from the African Development Bank (AfDB), Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and Kigali International Financial Centre (KIFC) examining the practical barriers preventing more investment from reaching African projects.

Policy certainty, early-stage project preparation, bankable pipelines, robust governance and appropriate financial risk-sharing were identified as critical to accelerating capital flows.

Dr Anthony Nyong, Director of Climate Change and Green Growth at the African Development Bank, emphasised that carbon markets should ultimately be viewed through the lens of African development.

“We don’t have carbon projects. We have development projects.”

Greg Fyfe, Chief Investment Officer at DBSA, highlighted the catalytic role development finance institutions can play by supporting project preparation, providing patient capital and absorbing risks private investors are unable to take.

The opening sessions underscored a decisive shift in the African carbon market conversation: from readiness to delivery, from fragmented projects to investable pipelines, and from selling credits to building markets capable of delivering lasting economic, social and climate value.

As CMAS 2026 continues in Kigali, attention now turns to connecting credible African projects with buyers and capital, unlocking transactions and ensuring Africa plays a leading role in shaping the next generation of global carbon markets.

For more information or registration:

Carbon Markets Africa Summit 2026

Media enquiries and interview requests:

Elize Engle | Pr1@tishalacommunications.com | +27 63 574 5249
Princess Malungani | Pr3@tishalacommunications.com | +27 60 931 8366

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6^th OCTOBER 2026, JOHANNESBURG: Infinite Partners (the “Firm”) has announced the final close of Infinite Partners Core Equity Fund II (the “Fund”), having secured R2.8 billion in capital, exceeding the target of R2.5 billion. This achievement marks an important milestone for the independent private equity firm and reflects strong support from a 100% South African institutional LP base, comprising pension funds, insurers, asset managers, and banks, with additional support from new and established relationships across the asset consulting community.

Edward Pitsi, Co-Founder and CEO of Infinite Partners, thanks these investors for their confidence in the Firm’s investment approach: “Our Infinite Deal investment philosophy has remained the same from day one. We focus on backing quality businesses with identifiable tailwinds, and potential to create sustainable value over time.”

This philosophy sees Infinite Partners investing in established mid-market companies that are innovating, expanding into new markets, and transforming their sectors. Realising this philosophy has seen Infinite Partners establish a framework for assessing opportunities, building conviction, and partnering with founders, management teams, and investors from entry through to exit, thus enabling the Firm to repeatedly drive positive outcomes for investors and other stakeholders.

The mandate for the Fund spans both growth and replacement capital to established mid-market businesses. Typical investments range between R100 million and R500 million.

The Fund has already made two investments: e4, an enterprise software business serving the banking and property sector, and CYNK, which develops and owns digital infrastructure assets, reflecting early investment momentum. A robust pipeline positions the Fund to make further investments over the coming months.

Investment in e4 has enabled continued product enhancement, customer expansion, and international growth. The platform has now processed R2.8 trillion in mortgages since inception, digitising previously paper heavy processes for South Africans and getting them into their homes faster. The business also has a nascent UK operation, reflecting the Fund’s ability to back South African talent and innovation in global markets.

CYNK continues to expand fibre connectivity to underserved communities across the country, mainly in townships, with infrastructure now reaching more than 667,000 households. The network supports digital access and enables greater participation in the digital economy within these communities.
Infinite Partners is 100% founder- and Black-owned, majority Black female-owned, and Level 1 B-BBEE certified.

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The figures come from SAVCA’s 2026 Venture Capital Industry Survey, which covers the 2025 calendar year and was reported by Disrupt Africa on 15 September. SAVCA publishes its surveys on its data and research page.

Same number of deals, fewer companies

The survey counted 212 deals across 91 companies in 2025. In 2024 it counted 222 deals across 110 companies. Deal volume barely moved, but it went to 19 fewer businesses. On average, each funded company raised 2.3 rounds.

That is the signature of a market doing follow-on investment (putting more money into companies it already owns) rather than taking new bets. “What we’re seeing is a concentration of capital towards fewer deals and more follow-on investment rounds,” said Stephen Lamprecht of VS Nova, one of the investors quoted in the survey coverage. For a startup that already has a venture investor on its shareholder register, that is reassuring: the backers are staying in. For a founder trying to raise a first institutional round, it means the queue is longer and the bar is higher.

The industry’s active portfolio has grown to 1 529 investments, and assets under management reached about R15.45bn. Technology-enabled businesses made up about two-thirds of deals, with fintech the largest category and ICT security and agritech drawing strong interest.

The exits, which are the part investors actually live on

Venture capital funds make their returns on exits, when a company is sold or lists and the fund cashes out. That has long been the weak point of the local market, and it is where this survey has its most encouraging number. Investors reported 10 exits in 2025, six of them profitable. Those six returned R281.2 million on R99.3 million invested in the same transactions, about 2.8 times the money.

Ten exits is still a small sample, and a single strong sale can move a figure like that a long way. But for the pension funds, development finance institutions and corporates who put money into venture funds, realised returns matter more than paper valuations. Every profitable exit makes the next fund easier to raise, which eventually means more money for first-time founders too.

“We’re moving beyond measuring capital raised and deals completed to see increasing evidence of companies scaling,” said SAVCA chief executive Anusha Naidu. The survey adds some weight to that claim on jobs: 71% of portfolio companies increased their headcount.

What this means if you are raising

The concentration of capital changes the practical advice for founders. When investors are writing follow-on cheques into companies they know, a new company has to look like one of those: clear revenue, a customer base that is growing on its own, and an investor case that does not depend on a single big contract. Pre-revenue startups will find a crowded field.

That makes the money that comes before venture capital more important, not less. Grant programmes, development finance and accelerators with no equity attached can carry a company to the point where a venture investor will take it seriously. Google’s accelerator, for one, is backing 15 South African AI startups with R1m each and no equity taken, and 22 On Sloane has launched a R1bn fund and AI platform aimed at the early end of the market. Our guide to government funding for small businesses covers the state options, and the Government Funding Finder matches a business to the programmes it qualifies for.

Before any of those conversations, it is worth knowing what giving up a share of the company actually costs compared with borrowing. The equity versus debt calculator puts a number on it.

What the survey does not tell us

The survey reflects what SAVCA’s participating members report, so it is not a count of every rand invested in local startups: offshore funds investing directly and angel investors acting alone will not all appear. The coverage also does not break out the stage mix of the 212 deals or how the exits happened, whether trade sales, secondary sales or listings. Those would show whether the money is reaching early-stage companies at all, or mostly topping up the ones already past that point.

What it does show is a market that has stopped growing wider and started growing deeper. That is healthy for the companies already in it. The companies not yet in it will have to arrive with more to show.

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It’s rare to find complete quality data about the South African startup ecosystem.

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Johannesburg, 29 June 2026 – Capitalworks, an independent alternative asset management firm focused on global emerging markets, today announced the launch of Capitalworks Private Equity Fund IV (CWPE IV), a South African-focused generalist private equity fund targeting total commitments of US$350 million, approximately R5.8 billion.

CWPE IV will continue the strategy pursued through Capitalworks’ predecessor funds, investing in established mid-market companies with strong growth prospects, defensible market positions and the potential to scale. Target sectors include fast-moving consumer goods, industrial services, logistics, retail, hospitality and tourism.

The first close has secured strong support from a high-quality group of local and international institutional investors which include, banks, pension funds, family offices, fund of funds and development finance institutions amongst others. Many of these investors have previously partnered with Capitalworks across Funds I, II and III, with their repeat commitments reflecting continued confidence in the platform, team and investment strategy.

“South Africa has a well-established private equity market, but the mid-market remains relatively underserved,” said Chad Smart, founder of Capitalworks. “We continue to see compelling opportunities to partner with high-quality businesses, support ambitious management teams and build companies with the potential to scale. This first close reflects strong confidence in our platform, our disciplined investment approach and the long-term opportunity in South Africa’s private sector.”

Two notable new investors in CWPE IV include Standard Bank of South Africa Limited and International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group and the world’s largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector in emerging markets. IFC has committed up to US$80 million, approximately R1.3 billion, comprising a US$40 million investment in CWPE IV and a US$40 million co-investment envelope.

The commitment represents one of IFC’s largest recent non-lending private fund investments in South Africa and underscores the strength of Capitalworks’ emerging-market investment track record, its South African mid-market capability and the opportunity to back growing private businesses in the country.

“IFC’s investment in Capitalworks Fund IV underscores our commitment to expanding opportunity through private sector growth in South Africa”, said Farid Fezoua, IFC’s Director of Equity, Funds, and Venture Capital. “We see the mid-market as a powerful driver of jobs and resilient local economies, and we’re excited to partner with Capitalworks to unlock its full potential and deliver lasting value.”

Commenting on their investment, Arnold van Wyk Head of Investments at Standard Bank said “Standard Bank is proud to support the first close of CWPE IV, reflecting our confidence in Capitalworks as a proven manager with a strong track record of sourcing, executing, and exiting proprietary opportunities in the South African mid-market. Beyond our role as capital partner, we look forward to working closely with the Capitalworks team to support the continued growth of the platform across this vintage.”

CWPE IV builds on Capitalworks’ 20-year emerging-market investment platform, spanning multiple funds, strategies and jurisdictions. Over the past two decades, Capitalworks Private Equity has invested successfully in more than 20 businesses through Funds I, II and III, including Rhodes Food Group, Much Asphalt, Peregrine Holdings, Robertson and Caine and Sovereign Foods. This track record reflects the platform’s depth of experience in backing established private businesses operating in attractive niches of the South African economy, supported by long-standing institutional investor relationships, disciplined capital deployment and the ability to invest through emerging-market cycles.

The fundraise comes at a time of markedly improving investor sentiment towards South Africa. Fitch upgraded South Africa’s sovereign credit rating to BB (from BB–) on 5 June 2026 – the country’s first Fitch upgrade in 21 years – citing prudent fiscal management, a shift to primary budget surpluses, and signs of stabilising government debt. Moody’s, meanwhile, revised its sovereign outlook from stable to positive on 22 May 2026, while affirming South Africa’s Ba2 rating, pointing to gradually strengthening fiscal performance and sustained commitment to structural reforms. Against this backdrop, the first close of CWPE IV represents a meaningful expression of confidence in both the Capitalworks platform and the opportunity to generate attractive returns by supporting the growth of established South African mid-market businesses.

Capitalworks’ private equity approach is differentiated by its partnership-led investment model, disciplined pricing and active involvement in portfolio companies. The firm places strong emphasis on downside risk management and value creation through operational improvement, governance enhancement, strategic expansion and, where appropriate, regional or international growth. It seeks to originate opportunities through deep market relationships and proprietary engagement.

“We are pleased to have secured strong first-close support from both local and international investors, including leading institutions such as the IFC,” said Chad Smart. “We are particularly encouraged by the continued support of returning investors, as well as the addition of new partners who share our confidence in the South African mid-market. We believe the current environment offers attractive entry points for patient capital with the ability to support growth, improve competitiveness and create lasting value.”

The South African mid-market offers a large pool of private businesses with strong fundamentals, entrepreneurial management teams and meaningful opportunities for growth. Capitalworks believes that businesses in this segment are well positioned to benefit from active ownership, strategic input and access to long-term institutional capital.

The final close of CWPE IV is expected in due course, subject to ongoing investor commitments and applicable regulatory requirements.

Rand equivalents are approximate and based on an average recent exchange rate of US$1 = R16.53.

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This is according to Lungile Mashele, Sector Specialist for Energy & Infrastructure at the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), who recently participated in a panel discussion at SAVCA’s Private Equity in Southern Africa Industry Conference. The engaging session explored why Africa’s infrastructure investment has struggled to move from promise to performance, despite strong underlying demand.

Mashele pointed to a fundamental disconnect in the market. “The promise has fallen short not because of one single issue, but a confluence of structural bottlenecks, largely linked to risk and reward,” she explained. “There’s a perception that there isn’t enough capital, but in reality, there’s significant capital available. The issue is that projects are not sufficiently bankable, and expectations around returns are often misaligned with the realities on the ground.”

Against this backdrop, Mashele identified four infrastructure pillars that are set to define the next decade of investment on the continent – and where both investors and policymakers should be focusing their attention.

Digital infrastructure: Powering the data economy

“We are going to see hypergrowth in digital infrastructure, with capital requirements for data centres across Africa expected to double by 2030,” said Mashele. “And the capital requirement here is twofold, because as the demand for data centres accelerates, so too does the need for sufficient and reliable power to support it.”

She added that regulatory developments, particularly around data sovereignty and privacy, are likely to shift where this infrastructure is built. “We’ve traditionally seen a concentration of data centres in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria, but as data and privacy laws tighten in these regions, we may see other emerging jurisdictions begin to attract investment.”

Transmission and distribution: Unlocking the grid

The second pillar is transmission and distribution – an area increasingly recognised as a key constraint in Africa’s energy transition.

“Transmission presents a significant opportunity,” said Mashele. “For the first time, we are seeing private transmission projects coming to market, with deals already closing in countries like Mozambique and Kenya, and strong interest in South Africa.”

This shift is critical to unlocking renewable energy capacity and addressing grid constraints, which have historically limited the ability to scale generation. The introduction of private capital into transmission marks a structural change in how infrastructure is funded and delivered, creating new avenues for investment.

Logistics and cross-border trade: Enabling movement at scale

Logistics and trade infrastructure form the third pillar, particularly as Africa seeks to deepen regional integration and improve the movement of goods across borders.

Mashele pointed to South Africa’s biker delivery boom as an example of how quickly infrastructure needs can shift and why investors need to remain adaptable. “If you had told me to invest in scooters back in March 2020, I would have laughed in your face and lost a lot of money.”

Beyond last-mile solutions, there is a broader need for investment in trade-enabling infrastructure, including ports, freight corridors and border facilities. These systems are essential for unlocking the full potential of intra-African trade but require coordinated investment and policy alignment.

Water, waste and social infrastructure: Back to basics

The final pillar lies in water, waste and social infrastructure – areas that are both foundational and increasingly urgent. “There is a significant amount of work to be done in water and waste infrastructure,” Mashele noted. “These are not just service delivery issues; they have direct economic implications and affect the functioning of entire cities and industries.”

From water treatment and sanitation to healthcare and municipal services, these sectors represent both a critical need and a major opportunity for private capital. However, they also require more innovative funding models, particularly where user-pay mechanisms are not viable.

Despite clear opportunities across these infrastructure frontiers, Mashele emphasised that unlocking meaningful investment will require a more pragmatic and disciplined approach.

“Private capital can play a catalytic role here, but if we are going to unlock infrastructure at scale, we need to be more honest about risk, more realistic about returns, and more deliberate in how we develop and prepare projects for investment,” she concluded.

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As private markets deepen in South Africa, capital allocators are increasingly consolidating mandates and seeking one-stop-shop managers, but this shift is raising concerns.

Some question whether collapsing private capital into a single bucket erodes diversification and forces managers into areas outside their expertise, while others argue that South Africa’s transformation agenda demands separate allocations to ensure inclusivity across private equity, infrastructure, private credit, and venture capital.

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The Southern African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (SAVCA) has appointed Anusha Naidu as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective 1 March 2026.

Naidu brings over 20 years of high-impact experience in corporate finance, private capital markets, M&A advisory, ESG implementation, and financial services. She joins from her role as Corporate Finance and ESG Executive at Select Africa, African Alliance, where she sat on the group executive committee. There, she drove capital raising, investor engagement, and strategic growth across African markets.

For nearly a decade, Naidu structured and secured debt and equity funding, forged strong ties with global and domestic institutional investors, development finance institutions, sovereign funds, and private capital providers. Her focus spanned innovative financing in key sectors like housing, real estate, and microfinance.

A Chartered Accountant (SA) with international exposure, her career includes senior roles at PwC across London, Dubai, Cape Town, and Johannesburg. She advised global banks, private equity firms, and institutional investors on complex cross-border transactions in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas.

SAVCA highlights Naidu’s blend of strategic vision, technical expertise, global outlook, and deep African market insight as ideal for steering the organisation forward.

Vuyo Ntoi, SAVCA Board Chairperson, commented: “Anusha’s leadership arrives at a pivotal moment of opportunity for the private capital industry. Her extensive investor relationships, expertise in capital formation, governance, and ESG will strengthen SAVCA’s position as an industry shaper and catalyst for sustainable growth.”

Naidu succeeds Tshepiso Kobile, who stepped down in May 2025. Under Kobile’s tenure, SAVCA amplified its influence in regulatory and policy arenas, notably contributing to the Conduct of Financial Institutions Bill, Competition Commission engagements, and DTIC discussions on public interest in mergers—ensuring private capital’s voice in critical frameworks.

Following Kobile’s exit, board member Nicola Gubb served as interim executive director. She will resume her non-executive board role after a smooth handover.

This appointment signals fresh momentum for SAVCA in championing venture capital and private equity as engines of economic transformation across Southern Africa.

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Southern Africa’s venture capital sector closed off 2024 with R13.35 billion in active investments across 1 325 deals.

For the third consecutive year, ICT-focused start-ups continued to attract the lion’s share of venture capital (VC), accounting for nearly two-thirds of total investment.

This, as data shows Southern Africa’s VC sector closed off 2024 with R13.35 billion in active investments across 1 325 deals, according to the 2025 SAVCA VC Industry Survey.

Conducted by the Southern African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (SAVCA), in partnership with research firm VS Nova, the annual research initiative shows the ICT sector accounts for 65.9% of deal value, three times more than the next sector.

Within ICT, the top-performing sub-sectors were software (20%), fintech (15.9%) and online markets (7.6%), according to the survey.

Nicola Gubb, interim executive director of SAVCA, comments: “Behind these numbers lies the story of a maturing market, more sophisticated capital deployment, deeper investor networks, and an encouraging shift toward early-growth stage funding, especially Series A, which speaks to a growing confidence in scalable local innovation.”

Regional hubs, particularly the Western Cape and Gauteng, remain vital, with notable growth also coming from beyond SA’s borders, the study reveals.

It further highlights that there are encouraging signals in critical areas such as health tech, which rose to 20% of deal value – its highest share since 2015. This shift was driven by renewed investor interest in life sciences, biotechnology and medical devices.

“The consolidation of capital into ICT and health reflects a maturing, digitally-focused VC ecosystem that is aligned with global investment trends. It also raises important questions about sector diversification, which remains a priority for long-term sustainability.”

Overall, a total of R3.29 billion was deployed to start-ups in 2024, comprising R2.62 billion in equity deals.

In addition, the survey this year reported for the first time on debt made available by VC fund managers, alongside their equity investments. This amounted to R670 million for 2024.

Series A funding climbed to 42.5% of all deals – more than double the proportion recorded in 2023 – indicating a shift toward early-growth capital.

The number of investment rounds also climbed to 222, up 20% from the previous year, into 110 companies.

While the overall equity deal value declined year-on-year, the survey also indicated an increase in deal volume that reflects a broader diversification of funding activity, including more co-investors and growing use of alternative instruments like venture debt.

Commenting on the findings of this year’s survey, Reabetswe Mjekevu, investment principal at SA SME Fund, says the insights are reflective of the current downturn in the exit environment.

“However, the findings also point to a maturing VC landscape that is laying the groundwork for an environment that is ripe for stronger, more sustainable exits in the future, signalling a promising outlook for both investors and founders alike.”

The survey confirmed that exit activity remains a major constraint, with just three exits noted in 2024. Fund managers cited the lack of follow-on capital, limited buyer universe and regulatory hurdles, including exchange controls, as key barriers to exit.

To unlock the next phase of growth, survey respondents identified several strategic priorities, including attracting foreign direct investment, building international networks to help start-ups scale globally, and increasing the supply of quality, fundable deals.

VS Nova founder Stephan Lamprecht states: “South Africa’s VC landscape is showing promising growth, with renewed government involvement − particularly through fund-of-funds initiatives − being closely watched for its potential to transform the asset class and even encourage greater participation from pension funds and insurers.”

“If 2024 has shown us anything, it’s that Southern Africa’s venture capital sector is steadily shifting gears from promise to performance. I remain deeply optimistic about the future we’re building together,” Gubb concludes.

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Southern Africa’s venture capital (VC) sector closed off 2024 with a record R13.35 billion in active investments across 1 325 deals.

Despite global economic uncertainties and constrained exit environments, Southern Africa’s venture capital (VC) sector closed off 2024 with a record R13.35 billion in active investments across 1 325 deals, up 24% year-on-year, according to the 2025 SAVCA VC Survey.

Nicola Gubb, interim executive director of Southern African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (SAVCA), said the findings reflect an industry that has demonstrated remarkable tenacity and resilience.

“Behind these numbers lies the story of a maturing market, more sophisticated capital deployment, deeper investor networks, and an encouraging shift toward early-growth stage funding, especially Series A, which speaks to a growing confidence in scalable local innovation,” she said.

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