AHL Venture Partners shifts from equity to private credit for African startups

In short

AHL Venture Partners, a Nairobi-based impact investor, is shifting its core strategy from equity investments to private credit. The firm says debt performs better in many African markets, and it is raising a dedicated debt fund.

What happened

Rosanne Whalley, CEO of AHL Venture Partners, told TechCabal that after years of investing across Africa, the firm concluded private credit is “what actually works.” Private credit is non-bank lending, similar to a loan from an investor instead of a bank.

AHL was founded in 2007 by a high-net-worth European family that wanted to back African entrepreneurs. For more than a decade, it invested through a mix of early-stage equity, growth equity, fund commitments, debt deals, and mezzanine structures. Mezzanine is a hybrid, it sits between a normal loan and equity and often includes extra fees or rights.

Around 2020, AHL’s backers gave Whalley a broad mandate with few constraints. The team focused on a single question, which approach can make money and still create durable impact.

AHL’s answer was lending to scaling businesses with strong cash flows and management teams that stay engaged during downturns. Whalley said debt “recycles” faster than equity, meaning repayments can be lent out again sooner. She also pointed to more predictable returns and better liquidity, which is how quickly an investor can get cash back.

Why it matters

The shift signals a wider rethink in African venture markets, where exits can take longer and cash returns to investors can be uneven. If more funds follow AHL into debt, more growth-stage startups may find capital that looks like revenue-linked financing rather than ownership dilution.

For founders, debt can be cheaper than selling shares when a business has steady revenue. But it also increases repayment pressure, so it tends to fit companies with reliable cash collection and strong unit economics.

AHL says it has backed more than 35 businesses so far. Its next test will be whether it can scale the model through a dedicated debt fund while keeping default risk under control.