Gender Diversity in African Private Capital

This report will be the first instalment in a new series of original research examining gender dynamics across Africa’s private capital ecosystem, which examines gender representation across two levels:  

• The fund level (investment teams and decision-makers)  
• The portfolio level (founders and senior executives backed by private capital).  

The findings offer a 360° view of where progress is being made, where gaps persist, and how intentional leadership can drive meaningful change.  

Key Findings: 

• Africa’s private capital firms outperform global benchmarks in gender representation at the fund level: women make up 38% of investment teams and 33% of investment committees. 
• Gender diversity declines sharply as firms scale: smaller and lower-AUM managers are far more gender-balanced, while large, capital-concentrated firms remain male-dominated in decision-making roles. 
• Despite progress at GP level, women remain underrepresented in portfolio leadership: only 7% of portfolio companies are female-founded and 12% female-led, indicating limited translation of fund-level diversity into capital allocation outcomes. 
• Investment committee (IC) composition matters: firms with female-dominated or gender-balanced ICs back significantly more women-led companies and more gender-diverse workforces than male-dominated peers. 
• Gender-diverse leadership correlates with performance: female-led portfolio companies employ more women and record materially stronger revenue growth than male-led counterparts.

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