We are excited to announce that Stears is now a data partner for SuperReturn Africa, the continent’s biggest and most senior private capital conference. As part of the partnership, we’re offering the Stears community 10% off tickets with the code FKR3577STEARS. Get your tickets here: tinyurl.com/2u4j3m3k

Africa's dairy market is worth $60bn+, yet Nigeria imports $1.5bn of dairy a year and ~85% of East African milk moves informally. The opportunity isn't more cows. It's processing, cold chain and import substitution. Report: stears.co/info/request-trial…

East & West Africa consume ~66bn litres of milk annually, but much of it still moves through informal channels. Kenya formally processes just 15% of production, while Nigeria produces ~700m litres against 1.5bn litres of demand. The opportunity? Build the infrastructure and processing capacity that turns this supply gap into an investable regional dairy value chain. Read the full report: stears.co/info/request-trial…

Nigeria’s pension funds are becoming a bigger source of private equity capital. Allocations to PE have tripled since 2022, reaching 1.06% of total pension AUM by August 2025, and new pension reforms could accelerate that shift, with a theoretical upside of ~$630 million in additional PE investment. Read the full report: stears.co/info/request-trial…

Something interesting happened in Kenya’s banking and credit sector last year. A new regulation was passed that could fundamentally reshape the country’s banking landscape. Here’s what happened 🧵

Gender-lens investing in Africa is gaining ground among GPs, and recent fundraises back this up. Adenia Capital Fund V closed at $300m with a mandate to integrate gender and ESG into governance and value creation. @AlitheiaIDF reached a $100m close as Africa’s first pan-regional gender-lens fund, while Jango Capital raised $78m in 2024 to become the continent’s largest gender-equal tech fund. The bigger shift is how LPs are thinking about gender: less as a compliance box, and more as a lens for finding overlooked sources of return. With women-owned businesses facing a $42bn credit gap across Africa, the opportunity is hard to ignore. Track the full list of gender-lens investment vehicles and what qualifies them: stears.co/info/request-trial…

Nigeria’s asset managers have spent the last few years scaling money market funds exceptionally well. They now account for 64.9% of mutual fund NAV, while equity funds hold just 2.02%—despite the NGX All-Share Index returning 37.65% in 2024. Private credit and infrastructure-linked products sit at the other end: harder to structure, harder to report on, and harder to build investor trust around. So where will the next phase of growth come from? We explore this and more in our latest report on Nigeria’s asset management industry. stears.co/info/request-trial…

Africa's AI infrastructure pipeline is filling up fast on paper. @Microsoft and @G42ai announced a $1 billion data centre package for Kenya in 2024, @MTNNG Group is building a $240 million facility in Lagos, and Casablanca has a $1.2 billion AI-native data project in motion, but announcements and operational sites are turning out to be two very different things. See how power infrastructure is becoming its own investable opportunity alongside AI data centres: stears.co/info/request-trial…

West Africa’s textile & garment industry is gaining momentum, with cotton production growing, industrial zones expanding and international financing flowing in. But investor risks are unevenly distributed. Our latest report breaks down why the strongest operators may be those with proven execution, productive factories and established buyer relationships. Explore the full risk and opportunity breakdown. stears.co/info/request-trial…

Healthcare spending tells two very different stories across North and Central Africa. Tunisia spends 7.0% of GDP on healthcare and Morocco 5.7%, compared with 4.7% in Egypt. Angola and Algeria are closer to 2.9% and 3.6%. Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt are actively reforming their healthcare systems in ways that can create clearer entry points for private capital. Central Africa, with lower public financing and greater reliance on donors, remains at an earlier stage. Investors are focused on where market infrastructure is developing enough for private capital to scale with it, and not just on growing demand for healthcare. Our latest research compares healthcare growth and investment readiness across the two regions. Read the full report: stears.co/info/request-trial…

81% of South African adults have a bank account. Only 8% have a credit card. That gap is creating room for alternative payment methods, but not all APMs solve the same problem. Pay by Bank and cash-linked options can help customers complete transactions they couldn't previously make. Digital wallets often make checkout easier for people who already have a card. The next challenge is to make @PayShapSA , Pay by Bank, and recurring payments accessible through a single integration. Read the full report: stears.co/info/request-trial…

German development finance is playing a bigger role in making African private markets investable. DEG committed €609M across Africa in 2025, while AfricaGrow has channelled $234M into pan-African PE and VC managers. The interesting part isn't the cheque size. It's where German capital sits: anchor investor, co-investor and sometimes first-loss capital that helps crowd in commercial money. For GPs, that makes German capital particularly relevant when structuring funds and deals where risk needs to be shared before private capital follows. Our latest report compares Germany's approach with Japan's and what it signals for the next wave of capital into Africa. Read more: stears.co/info/request-trial…

Nigeria's asset management industry grew 71.2% in 2024, reaching ₦10.1T in AUM. Naira depreciation from ₦900/$ to ₦1,536/$ also inflated the naira value of dollar-denominated portfolios. Meanwhile, fixed income and money market products drove much of the momentum, while equity funds remained just 2.02% of mutual fund assets despite the NGX All-Share Index returning 37.65%. As rates ease, managers may need a broader product shelf to keep clients engaged. Our latest research looks at where those product gaps are emerging: stears.co/info/request-trial…

North Africa's state-backed investors are using public capital to actively build their private markets. Tunisia's ANAVA committed to 10 venture funds in 2025. Morocco's FM6I put $450M behind 14 newly licensed managers. Egypt's MSMEDA ran its own fund-of-funds programme. This report looks at how state-backed capital is reshaping Africa's private markets. Read more: stears.co/info/request-trial…

81% of South African adults have a bank account, yet only 8% held a credit card in 2023. This creates an opportunity for alternative payment methods, particularly as consumers increasingly use account-based options for online and recurring payments. The challenge is making the money already sitting in these accounts easier to spend. Our latest report explores South Africa's alternative payments market. Read more: stears.co/info/request-trial…

Africa's domestic investors aren't absent from private markets. They're just disappearing at the point companies need them most. 38% of early-stage capital comes from domestic sources, whilst growth-stage capital contributes just 2%. This gap raises an important question: could African pension funds become the missing source of growth-stage capital? Our latest report explores what that could mean for African private equity. Read more: stears.co/info/request-trial…

Africa's food cold chain market is expected to grow from $9.9B to $14.5B by 2030. Behind those numbers is a simple reality: cold storage infrastructure hasn't kept pace with demand, contributing to food loss and limiting access to temperature-sensitive medicines. That's where the investment opportunity lies. Read the full analysis: stears.co/info/request-trial…

@theflutterwave 's acquisition of Mono highlights where fintech is heading. Transaction processing is becoming commoditised. The real value lies in owning the infrastructure and building higher-margin financial services on top of it. Read our latest analysis on West & Central Africa's digital payments market: stears.co/info/request-trial…

Africa's financing problem isn't simply a shortage of capital. It's a shortage of accessible credit. When businesses can't borrow, they dilute ownership instead. That has profound implications for growth, investment, and capital formation. Our latest report explores how local-currency private credit could change that: stears.co/info/request-trial…

Africa's cold chain market is worth $10.9B today and growing fast. Yet cold storage remains concentrated around cities, ports, and supermarkets, far from where much of the food is produced. That infrastructure gap is creating opportunities for new capital and cooling-as-a-service models. Read more: stears.co/info/request-trial…

The global fitness market is worth over $102.3 billion right now and is expected to hit $234.8 billion by 2034. Roughly 9.7% growth a year, driven by something pretty simple: people everywhere are spending more on staying healthy. In our report on the fitness industry in East and Southern Africa, we explore what's actually happening on the ground in both regions. Click the link below to understand the industry's competitive dynamics, key operators, and where the real opportunities sit. Access the full report: stears.co/info/request-trial…

Uganda's mobile-money market keeps setting new records on paper. By June 2025 the country had around 34.6 million active e-money accounts, agents had grown 27% year-on-year to reach one million, and FinScope 2023 found 64% of adults using mobile money, far ahead of those using banks. Transaction volumes told the same story, climbing from 4.2 billion to 5.4 billion in a year, with value rising from roughly $67.4 billion to $86.6 billion. View what's driving this growth: stears.co/info/request-trial…

Africa-based LPs moved from 14% to 19% of commitments in two years, which is progress, but pension funds and other domestic institutions are still boxed in by regulatory limits and currency mismatches that keep them on the sidelines. Managers who build real relationships with local LPs now, rather than waiting for the regulatory environment to catch up, will be the ones less exposed the next time global liquidity tightens. Read the full breakdown on where local capital is actually moving: stears.co/info/request-trial…

Africa's private capital market got more transparent in Q2 2026, with 69% of transactions disclosing a value, up from 58% in Q1 and 52% a year ago. That's the highest disclosure rate we've tracked in recent quarters, and it's giving investors a clearer read on where capital is actually moving. Access the full Stears Q2 Private Capital Activity report here: stears.co/info/q2-2026-priva…

Tomorrow we're unpacking the Q2 2026 Private Capital in Africa Activity Report, and this quarter had some interesting twists. Deal activity bounced back (221 transactions, up 19% from Q1), but the money side tells a different story. Disclosed value actually dropped, and exits hit their lowest point since 2022. More deals happening, but liquidity is tightening. Worth understanding why. We will be walking through what's driving this: the sectors pulling ahead, which countries are leading the pack, and what it means if you're building, investing, or just trying to make sense of where African private capital is headed. Save your seat here: luma.com/f24tl422

Africa recorded more deals and fewer exits in Q2 2026. We're putting experts together to dissect the Q2 findings from the Stears Private Capital Activity report. In this webinar, we'll get into: •Where capital actually moved in Q2, and why deal count misleads •What the drop in exits and ecosystem liquidity means for GPs and LPs •Which sectors, regions and ticket sizes are drawing capital now Save your seat: luma.com/f24tl422

H1 2026's most active investor in West Africa was not a fund. We ranked single-country-led deals by how often an investor appears, and the names at the top are not the venture funds one would expect. Of the top six, only Sahel is a conventional private fund. The rest are development banks, an impact investor and ecosystem builders. They deployed often and in small repeat cheques. The largest capital in the region came from debt and project-finance desks that appear once and deploy at scale. Who is consistently in the market matters as much as who wrote the biggest cheque. Request a trial to see the full investor breakdown: stears.co/info/request-trial…

Africa recorded 221 private capital transactions in Q2 2026, up 19% on Q1. It also recorded seven exits, the lowest quarterly count since Q4 2022. We're getting a panel together to work through what actually happened on Friday, 24 July, 2pm WAT. Registration is open now: luma.com/f24tl422

In Q2 2026, micro deals rose from 31 to 73 disclosed transactions. Mega deals rose from 19 to 24 in absolute terms. The mid-market ($2.5M–$75M) fell from 54% to 37%. Q2 2026 did not show a broad-based strengthening of the mid-market. Activity improved at the lower end and remained visible at the top. Access the full Stears Q2 Private Capital Activity report here: stears.co/info/q2-2026-priva…

In Q2 2026, deal volume rose 19% from the revised Q1 figure but remained 8% below Q2 2025. The decline in disclosed value from Q1 reflects the absence of two outlier transactions that inflated Q1's aggregate — MTN's $6.2B IHS acquisition and the $4B Dangote Refinery financing. Disclosed value was, however, significantly above Q2 2025. Access the full Stears Q2 Private Capital Activity report here: stears.co/info/q2-2026-priva…

We've launched a Research page on Stears. It's a single, centralized home for every report, market update, and deal briefing we publish on Africa. You can filter by title, sector, geography, or frequency, sort however you like, and move through the full catalogue with proper pagination. Simple, but it changes how quickly you get to the insight you actually need. For investors, fund managers, and deal teams tracking African markets, this means faster access to the research that shapes real decisions. Explore the new Research page: stears.co/info/request-trial…

Africa recorded 221 private capital transactions in Q2 2026, up 19% QoQ. Disclosure improved to 69%, the highest in recent quarters. Exits went the other way. Q2 produced 7, the lowest quarterly count since Q4 2022, resulting in the SVL Index falling to 82.46 from 114.37 in Q1. The free Q2 2026 Private Capital in Africa Activity Report is live. Download here: stears.co/info/q2-2026-priva…

My Father's Shadow made history as the first Nigerian film in Cannes' Official Selection, later earning a Caméra d'Or Special Mention and a BAFTA for Outstanding Debut. Its success also highlights a bigger story: in African cinema, distribution is becoming just as valuable as production. With only ~100 cinemas serving 200M+ Nigerians, those who control release windows control access to an increasingly valuable box office. As institutional capital enters the sector, distribution infrastructure could become one of Africa's most strategic media assets. Our latest report explores the film industry across Southern and West Africa: stears.co/info/request-a-tri…

Nigeria is one of Africa's most important sports betting markets, driven by a young population and deep football culture. GeoPoll's 2024 survey found that 65% of young Nigerians have placed a bet before, but over half spend less than $10 a month. This is a market built on volume and repetition, not big spenders. When stakes are small, a customer's value comes from how often they return, and that depends on things as simple as a deposit that doesn't fail or a withdrawal that lands on time. Access Stears' latest analysis on sports betting in Nigeria: stears.co/info/request-trial…

Last week in African markets, development finance did the heavy lifting. Uganda drew up to $3.8 billion from the World Bank under a new 10-year partnership framework. Egypt reached an IMF staff-level agreement clearing about $1.6 billion in new financing. Nigeria secured $1.25 billion from the World Bank, alongside a $2.84 billion road drive. South Africa, Kenya, Côte d'Ivoire, the DRC and Togo all closed multilateral facilities. Access a full breakdown in this week's Stears Weekly Macro outlook: stears.co/info/request-trial…

Craneburg EKSG Motorway issued a N32.5 billion, 20-year bond with InfraCredit's guarantee, achieving an Aaa rating from Agusto and Co, making it eligible for domestic institutional investors financing the 68km Ekiti Ring Road. Lagos Free Zone raised N53 billion across three guaranteed issuances to finance Nigeria's largest integrated port-based economic zone. By December 2024, InfraCredit had guaranteed 24 transactions and mobilised over N200 billion in private investment. Pension funds accounted for 56% of institutional investor participation in supported issuances. Uncover how @InfraCredit is unlocking domestic capital for Nigerian infrastructure in our latest report: stears.co/info/request-trial…

African fundraising hit $4B in 2024, its best year in five years. But capital isn’t flowing the way it used to. DFIs still account for 42% of fundraising value. LPs now want to see exits before they will even talk about a second fund. And GPs claiming “pan-African” reach without people on the ground in those markets are getting caught out in diligence. Right now, LPs are only willing to back tested and proven GPs. Review the LP checklist before your next fundraise: stears.co/info/request-trial…

Investment banks in Sub-Saharan Africa earned $169.3 million in fees in the first half of 2025. That's the weakest six months since 2012. Want to understand why debt-related fees, loans and bonds, now make up 62% of all banking fees on the continent? Read our latest report on understanding Africa’s debt centric investment banking model: stears.co/info/request-trial…

By early March 2026, 30 of 33 banks had met their new thresholds, raising ₦4.05 trillion between them, largely through rights issues, public offers, and private placements rather than mergers. That is a different outcome from the last major reset, Soludo's 2004/2005 consolidation, which cut the industry from 89 banks to 25. This time, the market cleared the capital calls directly. The lending implication follows from the numbers on this table. Single-obligor exposure is capped at 20% of shareholders' funds: a bank now capitalised at ₦500 billion can legally lend up to ₦100 billion to one borrower, more than double the ceiling at the old ₦50 billion threshold. That is the ceiling investment banks and large borrowers should be watching. Request a trial to access the full report:stears.co/info/request-trial…

Lagos may be widely recognised as the benchmark residential market in West Africa, but when you look at property yield, it is not the best in the region. A 4-bedroom semi-detached duplex yields 10.47% in Accra, against 4.76% in Lagos, and a 3-bedroom flat yields 7.23% in Accra, against 4.95% in Lagos. Accra outperforms across most property types in this comparison. Lagos has built a deeper premium market than Accra, and prime sale prices, in locations like Ikoyi and Banana Island, have risen faster than rents can follow. Investors there are pricing in appreciation, when thinking about purchasing properties. Stears breaks down Nigeria's residential real estate in our latest report: stears.co/info/request-trial…

Pricing an African private deal usually means borrowing multiples from markets that don't resemble ours, then discounting by instinct. On Stears, you can now build a defensible comp set in minutes with the Comps Screener. Find African comps: stears.co/info/request-trial…

Sourcing the right companies in African markets that fit your strategy can be quite challenging. The Stears Company Screener lets you go from a broad market scan to a targeted shortlist in seconds. Less time scanning. More time on the right opportunities. Request a trial: bit.ly/4sNgtYL

The Stears Comps Screener now filters by exact comparable data points. Select Implied EV, EV/Revenue, or EV/EBITDA. Every result contains the multiple you're looking for. Cleaner comps. Faster. Built on African market data. Live now. bit.ly/4c072jF

Valuation benchmarks for African private markets are now live on Stears. The standard move when pricing an African deal has been to pull US, European or Asian comps and apply a discount. That discount is a guess. There's no data behind it. Now there is. Price with confidence: bit.ly/4m8EOXi

Africa’s infrastructure story is shifting from asset build-out to platform scale. Across fibre, cloud, data centres, and cold chain, value is increasingly driven by utilisation, customer growth, and regional expansion rather than construction alone. Returns may depend less on financing assets and more on building platforms well, with operators and platform builders playing a larger role and institutional capital positioned behind them. See the signals shaping African infrastructure: share.hsforms.com/1Koufu6ZET…

Capital is still flowing into Africa, but pricing is shifting. Higher sovereign yields, concessional European financing, and local bank participation in energy infrastructure all point to a more selective market environment. See how investors are positioning: share.hsforms.com/1Koufu6ZET…

African infrastructure is moving into new hands. MTN’s move to regain control of IHS signals a broader shift in ownership across towers, fibre, and digital platforms from financial sponsors to strategic operators building long-term platforms. Understand who will own African infrastructure next: share.hsforms.com/1Koufu6ZET…

We are live at the PEVCA Policy Capital Summit 2026, showcasing how Stears provides private capital investors, advisers, and institutions with structured intelligence on African markets — covering transactions, macro trends, and sector dynamics. See how leading teams evaluate opportunities with greater precision. share.hsforms.com/1Koufu6ZET…

Nigeria’s bank recapitalisation is quietly testing the depth of its capital markets. After the Central Bank raised minimum capital thresholds in 2024, banks mobilised ₦4.05tn (~$2.9bn) in new equity within two years, with 30 of 33 banks meeting the requirement by March 2026. Nigeria’s equity market may be able to absorb more large-scale issuance than recent non-bank deal flow suggests. Request a trial to track the capital flows shaping African markets. bit.ly/4lx5gd0