The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is investing $8 million in Ventures Platform Pan-African Fund II to support early-stage technology companies across Africa and expand access to growth capital.
The investment, the EBRD’s first commitment to a pan-African venture capital fund assessing opportunities in sub-Saharan Africa, will target technology companies with strong growth potential, particularly in Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria and Senegal.
The fund is expected to support innovation, job creation and private-sector development by providing financing to businesses at the early stages of their growth.
The investment is being made through the EBRD’s Early-Stage Innovation Facility II, a €200 million programme through which the bank invests in commercially oriented venture capital funds.
Through the facility, the EBRD supports high-potential technology companies and fund managers seeking to expand access to finance, deepen innovation ecosystems and accelerate private-sector growth.
Kola Aina, founding partner of Ventures Platform, said the fund was pleased to welcome the EBRD as an investor, describing the commitment as a sign of growing institutional confidence in Africa’s innovation economy.
“Beyond the capital, the EBRD’s participation signals growing institutional confidence in Africa’s innovation economy and strengthens our ability to back ambitious founders building enduring companies that create value for Africa and the world,” Aina said.
The EBRD’s participation alongside other development finance institutions, international financial institutions and private commercial investors reflects continued support for Africa’s venture capital ecosystem and confidence in the long-term growth prospects of African technology companies.
Dirk Werner, EBRD’s managing director of Equity, said venture capital remained underdeveloped relative to the scale of entrepreneurial activity across Africa.
“By investing in Ventures Platform Pan-African Fund II, we are helping to strengthen the market infrastructure that enables innovative businesses to access growth capital and scale their impact,” Werner said.
The EBRD said innovation is increasingly shaping Africa’s economic future, while venture capital remains underdeveloped compared with the continent’s entrepreneurial activity.
The bank started investing across five sub-Saharan African countries in 2025 and has invested €620 million in the region in less than a year.
Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date
