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LAGOS – Africa is outperforming global markets on gender diversity in private capital — yet the continent’s fastest-growing companies and largest pools of capital remain largely out of women’s hands.
That is the central finding of a new landmark report launched today by the African Private Capital Association (AVCA), offering the most comprehensive, Africa-focused analysis to date of how gender representation shapes investment behaviour and outcomes.
Drawing on data from 218 private capital investors, 3,099 industry professionals and 1,972 portfolio companies, the study maps gender participation across fund management, investment committees and portfolio leadership — and reveals both notable progress and persistent structural gaps.
The headline numbers are striking. Women make up 38 per cent of investment professionals and 33% of investment committee members in African private capital firms — exceeding global averages of 35 per cent and just 12 per cent, respectively. Across the industry, women account for 44% of the total workforce and 32 per cent of board members.
Together, these figures place Africa ahead of global benchmarks, surpassing the one-third representation threshold at every organisational level and positioning the continent as a global leader in gender diversity within private capital.
But, the data also exposes a sharp drop-off as firms grow in size and influence.
Smaller firms — those with fewer than five employees — report gender parity or better, with women representing 50 per cent of investment teams and 44% of investment committees. By contrast, firms managing more than $1 billion show significantly lower representation: just 29 per cent of investment professionals and 19 per cent of investment committee members are women.
This matters because large firms control the majority of capital deployed across the continent. As AVCA notes, gender imbalance at the top of the market has direct implications for where capital flows, which founders are backed and which sectors scale.
The gap becomes even more pronounced at the portfolio company level.
Despite gains within fund management, women remain markedly underrepresented among the businesses receiving private capital. Only 5% of portfolio companies are female-founded, and just 11% are led by a female CEO.
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