Africa’s first exit index unveiled to boost startup liquidity

Africa’s private capital ecosystem took a significant step towards improving liquidity and scaling startups with the launch of the first-ever African Exit Index.

The index was launched at the third annual Africa Prosperity Summit, hosted by Ventures Platform this November.
The PUNCH reports that the summit, held under the theme “Growing the Pie: Building the Pathways for Liquidity, Scale, and Enduring Returns”, brought together investors, operators and ecosystem stakeholders to explore pathways for liquidity, scale and enduring returns.

The Index, presented by the Head of Research at Stears, Michael Famoroti, is a “continuously updated, publicly accessible resource” designed to benchmark exit performance and provide investors and policymakers with actionable insights for strategic deployment. Famoroti highlighted the tool’s role in guiding decision-making for sustainable investment and policymaking.

The summit also featured high-level sessions that examined Africa’s liquidity challenges, systemic barriers and strategies for scaling companies across the continent.

Executives, including the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Exchange Group, Temi Popoola; CEO of Moniepoint, Tosin Eniolorunda; Director of Venture Capital at British International Investment, Chirantan Patnaik; and General Partner at Norrsken22, Lexi Novitske, engaged in discussions around policy, regulatory and operational constraints, including FX restrictions and capital controls.

In his opening remarks, the Founding Partner at Ventures Platform, Kola Aina, said, “Africa stands at a pivotal moment where liquidity (not just capital) is the defining lever for scale. Closing the continent’s liquidity gap, which is driven by limited exit pathways and underdeveloped acquisition and listing markets, requires building acquisition-ready companies, deepening corporate participation in exits, strengthening listing readiness, and innovating Africa-specific liquidity mechanisms capable of driving long-term, continent-wide prosperity.”

Patnaik provided a data-driven analysis of capital flows across Africa’s innovation ecosystem, detailing “who is deploying capital, what LPs are seeking, and how fund managers must adapt.” Benchmarking Africa against Latin America and India, he drew parallels in market maturation, exit pathways and fund dynamics, positioning Africa’s challenges within a global growth curve.

The Managing Partner at Ventures Platform, Dotun Olowoporoku, said, “We started the Africa Prosperity Summit three years ago not just to host another conversation, but to build alignment around what truly drives growth on the continent. And as this year’s convening showed, unlocking liquidity and scale will require collaboration and trusted intelligence across the ecosystem.

“The next frontier for Africa will not only be about attracting capital but also about earning it through transparency, resilience and consistent performance. We remain committed to providing the platform for these conversations to thrive and drive results.”

The summit also explored unconventional investment instruments, including venture debt, blended finance and revenue-based financing, as viable means to enable African companies to achieve cross-border scale. A recurring theme was the need for an authoritative measure of exit performance to guide investment decisions, a gap the African Exit Index now addresses.

In a fireside chat titled “The Road to a Billion: Raising, Scaling, and Building Trust at Scale”, Olowoporoku and Eniolorunda shared insights on what it takes to scale African companies to billion-dollar valuations. Both leaders agreed that sustainable growth in Africa requires balancing ambition with discipline, combining bold vision with operational execution, building ecosystems of trust and leveraging local insights to create businesses that are profitable, resilient and scalable across borders.

The Africa Prosperity Summit, now in its third consecutive year, continues to serve as a critical platform for translating high-level conversations into actionable strategies and trusted intelligence required for scalable, long-term prosperity. This year’s edition was sponsored by G. Elias, Aluko & Oyebode, Iron Capital and Google for Startups Accelerator Africa and curated in collaboration with ecosystem leaders including AVCA, Algebra Ventures, Miva University, Novastar, Wimbart, 7 Generations Institute and TLP Advisory.