Venture Capital
2025 Africa Venture Capital Exit & Liquidity Report
Understand Who Exits, How They Exit, and What That Means for Capital in Africa
Produced in partnership with Ventures Platform, the 2025 Africa Venture Capital Exit and Liquidity Report presents the most comprehensive analysis of VC-backed exits ever conducted on the African continent. Drawing on 181 verified transactions spanning 2011 to 2026 and measured through the proprietary Stears–Ventures Platform Liquidity Index (SVL Index), this report gives fund managers, LPs, DFIs, and investors a structured view of how reliably capital is returned in African venture capital.
What's Inside the Report?
The SVL Index: A first-of-its-kind composite measure of African venture liquidity, separating exit volume from exit quality across buyer breadth, route diversity, and fresh capital generation.
181 Verified Exits Analysed: Pan-African exit data spanning 2011 to 2026, covering trade sales, secondaries, and public listings across all major regions and sectors.
Regional Exit Dynamics: West Africa leads with 48% of all exits and the highest Liquidity Quality Index score on the continent, while North Africa distinguishes itself through strong international buyer participation.
Sectoral Breakdown: Financial Services accounts for 30% of all exits, nearly as large as the next two sectors combined, while Energy & Utilities reveals a structural mismatch between investment activity and exit readiness.
Exit Route Analysis: Trade sales dominate at 73% of all exits, while secondaries have grown from 7% to 23% between 2021 and 2024, tracking a global shift in how venture liquidity is generated.
Fund-Level Playbook: Practical guidance on portfolio construction, secondary strategy, LP alignment, duration calibration, and carry structure for managers operating in Africa's current liquidity environment.
