London – Africa Finance Corporation has approved a commitment of up to 100 million US dollars to invest in Africa-focused technology fund managers, in a move aimed at accelerating the continent’s digital industrialisation.
The announcement was made in London on 18 May 2026 and comes at a time when Africa’s digital economy is projected to contribute over 700 billion US dollars to GDP by 2050, driven by a fast-growing, digitally connected population and increasing enterprise adoption of technology. Despite this momentum, a persistent gap in long-term institutional capital continues to hold back the development and scaling of high-potential technology businesses across the continent.
AFC President and CEO Samaila Zubairu said the commitment was a direct response to what young Africans are already doing on the ground. “Across the continent, young Africans are not waiting for the digital economy to arrive; they are seizing the moment, adopting technology, creating markets and solving real economic problems faster than infrastructure has kept pace. That is the investment signal. AFC’s US$100 million Africa-focused Technology Fund will accelerate the convergence of growing demand, rapid technology adoption, youthful demographics and the enabling infrastructure we are building. Digital infrastructure is now as fundamental to Africa’s transformation as roads, rail, ports and power, enabling productivity, payments, logistics, services, data and cross-border trade, while creating jobs and industrial scale,” he said. 
As part of the initial deployment, AFC has made anchor commitments to Lightrock Africa Fund II and Future Africa Fund III, positioning the corporation across the full innovation lifecycle from early-stage venture capital through to growth-stage scaling.
Lightrock Managing Partner and CEO Pal Erik Sjatil welcomed AFC as an anchor investor, saying: “We are delighted to welcome Africa Finance Corporation as an anchor investor in Lightrock Africa II, deepening a strong partnership shaped by our collaboration on high-impact investments across Africa, including Moniepoint, Lula, and M-KOPA. This commitment reflects a shared conviction in the opportunity to back high-growth, technology-enabled businesses with proven business models, strong fundamentals, and clear pathways to profitability. With aligned capital, a long-term perspective, and a shared focus on value creation, we are well positioned to support exceptional management teams and scale category-leading businesses that deliver attractive financial returns alongside measurable environmental and social outcomes.”
Future Africa is a venture capital firm that backs founders building technology-enabled solutions to Africa’s most pressing challenges, with a portfolio that includes some of the continent’s most celebrated technology companies. AFC’s investment in Future Africa Fund III is designed to strengthen the pipeline of innovation at the early-stage end of the market.
Future Africa Founding Partner Iyin Aboyeji said the timing of the commitment could not be better. “Young Africans are not waiting for the digital economy to arrive; they are already among its most active participants globally. What they need now are the skills, productive assets and infrastructure to build and scale within it. By investing in AI-native skills, financing productive tools such as phones and laptops, and expanding energy, connectivity and compute infrastructure, we can convert Africa’s greatest asset, its people, into critical participants in the new global economy. AFC’s US$100 million commitment is the anchor this moment demands. As our first multilateral development bank partner, AFC is sending a clear signal that digital is as fundamental to Africa’s transformation as agriculture, manufacturing and physical infrastructure. We trust that other development finance institutions, insurers, reinsurers and pension funds will follow AFC’s lead,” he said.
Africa’s venture capital ecosystem has shown real promise, with the continent producing nine unicorns, some of its leading fund managers generating returns of up to 128 times the capital originally invested, and African startups raising 3.8 billion US dollars in 2025 alone. However, local institutional capital remains significantly underrepresented, with the majority of venture funding continuing to flow from international sources.
