Africa is grappling with a severe and growing drain of privately generated wealth to foreign financial centres, a trend experts say is crippling the continent's ability to fund its own future. This urgent warning was the central theme of a high-level media dialogue held recently in Lagos, where stakeholders declared that Africa cannot accelerate its development without building robust systems to keep capital circulating within its borders.
The Lagos Summit: A Call for Homegrown Capital
The event, organised by the 7 Generations Institute (7GI) in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Regional Bureau for Africa, the Africa Prosperity Summit, the African Philanthropy Forum, and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, marked a coordinated push to change how families and institutions mobilise private wealth. Held on 3 December 2025, the Lagos meeting is part of a broader 15-country tour, following an earlier session in Nairobi on November 3.
Participants identified the glaring absence of well-governed Family Offices as a critical weakness. These offices are not merely investment vehicles but holistic governance systems that help families preserve and grow their wealth while steering it towards impactful, inclusive development. Barry Johnson, Founder and Executive Chairman of 7 Generations Africa and 7GI, defined a True Family Office as a structure that anchors a family's core values, relationships, and long-term vision.
"When families govern these domains well, their money becomes better governed," Johnson stated. "Well-governed capital then becomes catalytic, supporting entrepreneurs, strengthening national systems, and advancing the continent’s development priorities."
Why Family Offices Are a Game-Changer for Africa
7GI presented a compelling theory of change linking family governance to national prosperity. The logic is clear: well-governed families lead to well-governed capital, which is then deployed more responsibly. When African private capital is invested with purpose, local economies gain resilience.
Johnson emphasised that African families, equipped with formal governance structures, could be decisive players in driving:
- National development projects
- Entrepreneurship and innovation
- Long-term economic stability
He highlighted the unique advantages of Family Office capital, which includes deep cultural intelligence, patient and blended financing, an appetite for early-stage risk, and the agility to operate outside slow bureaucracy and short political cycles.
Overcoming the Barriers to Keep Wealth at Home
The summit did not shy away from the significant obstacles hindering the growth of Family Offices across Africa. Key challenges identified include:
- Regulatory ambiguity and uncertainty
- Limited awareness of the Family Office model
- A shortage of expert guidance and professionals
- A deep-seated historical tendency to export wealth offshore for perceived safety
Sarah Stephen, Executive Director of 7GI, argued that strengthening family governance is the antidote to this capital flight. "We create environments that help families learn, connect, and appreciate the catalytic role they are needed to play," she said. She pointed out a stark global reality: most wealthy families lose their wealth within three generations. However, by building True Family Offices, African families can break this cycle, preserve their legacies, and intentionally reinvest back into the continent.
"Lagos showed how ready leaders are to design African solutions for African ambitions," Stephen concluded.
The initiative's roadshow will continue to Cape Town, Kigali, Rabat, and Abidjan, with plans to establish a continental Family Office Learning Network to foster peer exchange and build technical capacity. The goal is to create the policy frameworks and ecosystem needed to support a new generation of African Family Offices that can finally stem the tide of wealth leaving the continent.
