venture capital

African venture and private equity markets often fail to form not due to a simple lack of funding, but because of coordination failures where skilled managers, credible exits, and willing private investors are all missing simultaneously. Development finance institutions can play a catalytic role in resolving these failures, but must carefully time their interventions and design instruments that crowd in rather than displace private capital, supported by more rigorous evidence on what actually works.

Josh Lerner discusses why there is a gap between innovation and impact, and how policymakers can speed up technological diffusion.