Over 250 prominent figures from Africa's investment and business sectors gathered in Lagos last week for the third annual Africa Prosperity Summit, organized by Ventures Platform. The event, held from November 12th to 14th, 2025, focused on critical pathways to sustainable growth and liquidity across the continent's venture capital landscape.
Addressing Africa's Liquidity Challenge
The summit convened under the theme "Growing the Pie: Building the Pathways for Liquidity, Scale, and Enduring Returns", bringing together investors, operators, and ecosystem builders to tackle the most pressing challenges facing African startups and investment firms. Key discussions centered around Africa's significant liquidity gaps, limited exit pathways, and regulatory barriers that have historically constrained growth.
In his opening remarks, Kola Aina, Founding Partner at Ventures Platform, emphasized that "Africa stands at a pivotal moment where liquidity, not just capital, is the defining lever for scale." He highlighted the urgent need to build acquisition-ready companies, deepen corporate participation in exits, strengthen listing readiness, and develop Africa-specific liquidity mechanisms.
Industry Leaders Share Critical Insights
The three-day event featured high-level sessions with leading executives including Temi Popoola, GMD/CEO of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc; Tosin Eniolorunda, CEO of Moniepoint; Chirantan Patnaik, Director of Venture Capital at British Investment International; and Lexi Novitske, General Partner at Norrsken22.
During a keynote address, Chirantan Patnaik provided a data-driven analysis of capital flows across Africa's innovation ecosystem, comparing the continent's maturation process with established markets like Latin America and India. His presentation framed ongoing discussions about development performance indicators, sustainability, and institutional readiness.
In a fireside chat titled "The Road to a Billion: Raising, Scaling, and Building Trust at Scale", Dotun Olowoporoku of Ventures Platform and Tosin Eniolorunda of Moniepoint explored what it takes to scale African companies to billion-dollar valuations. Both leaders agreed that sustainable growth requires balancing ambition with discipline, combining bold vision with rigorous operational execution.
Launch of African Exit Index
A significant milestone from the summit was the official launch of the first-ever African Exit Index, presented by Michael Famoroti, Head of Research at Stears. This continuously updated, publicly accessible resource aims to benchmark exit performance and provide investors and policymakers with actionable insights for strategic deployment.
Dotun Olowoporoku, Managing Partner at Ventures Platform, commented on the summit's significance: "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. The next frontier for Africa will not only be about attracting capital, but also about earning it through transparency, resilience, and consistent performance."
Discussions extended beyond conventional equity to explore alternative financing instruments including venture debt, blended finance, and revenue-based financing as viable options for enabling African companies to achieve cross-border scale. Participants consistently emphasized the importance of harnessing local capital, strengthening talent management, and building robust exit strategies.
Now in its third consecutive year, the Africa Prosperity Summit has established itself as an essential platform for translating high-level conversations into actionable strategies. This year's edition was sponsored by G. Elias, Aluko & Oyebode, Iron Capital, and Google for Startups Accelerator Africa, with curation support from ecosystem leaders including AVCA, Algebra Ventures, and Novastar.
