Original research on African capital
Our analyst team publishes the research that informs every mandate we take — white papers on where African capital is going, and working papers testing what a decade of portfolio data actually shows. Independent, evidence-led, and free to read.
Published white papers
Peer-shared research from the Caban desk, available in full.
The Africa Term Sheet Guide 2026
South African term sheets compared with the UK, Europe and the US across 15 clauses, the Africa-specific issues Western guides leave out, and a 14-point checklist for founders.
Quarterly dataThe Caban African Growth Capital Monitor
Our quarterly benchmark on African growth capital: funding flows, the equity–debt mix, concentration, and exits. Vol. 1 (Q2 2026) available now.
White paperHarnessing Private Growth Capital in South Africa to Create Jobs
Why private growth capital — not aid and not listed markets — is South Africa's most credible jobs engine, and what unlocks it at scale.
White paperDriving Inclusive Venture Capital in Sub-Saharan Africa
The evidence that widening who gets funded widens returns — and the pipeline mechanics that make inclusion an investment strategy rather than a concession.
White paperIndustry Spotlight: Emerging Sectors for Venture Capital in South Africa
Where the next decade of South African venture returns is forming — the sectors, the drivers, and the entry points.
Working paperDFI Co-Investment Behaviour in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2020–2026
How development finance institutions crowd in private capital across the region: mobilisation ratios, the catalytic-signal effect, and what the disclosure data reveals.
Working paperLocal-Currency Capital in African Private Markets: The FX Problem Nobody Prices
A dollar investor in an African business holds an unpriced currency bet. We measure it: the median five-year dollar loss was 14% for the shilling, 27% for the rand, 46% for the naira and 57% for the cedi.
The 2026 white paper programme
Four papers currently in research and drafting at the desk. Request early access and you'll receive each paper on release, ahead of general publication.
The $331 Billion Gap: Financing Africa's Missing Middle
The IFC sizes Sub-Saharan Africa's SME financing shortfall at $331 billion — the largest under-served credit and equity pool in any region. This paper maps where the gap is deepest by market and sector, why banks and classic VC both structurally miss it, and the instruments — mezzanine, revenue-share, services-for-equity — actually closing it.
Exit Pathways for African Growth Companies: Trade Sales, Secondaries, and the JSE Route
The most common LP objection to African private markets is exit risk. Drawing on a decade of realised African exits, this paper compares trade sale, secondary, and public-listing pathways — including a practical assessment of JSE listing readiness for mid-cap growth companies.
Blended Capital for African Healthcare: Structures That Scale
Healthcare demand across Africa is compounding faster than public provision can follow. This paper examines blended structures — DFI first-loss, impact tranches, commercial equity — that have successfully scaled healthcare delivery businesses, and the terms at which each layer of capital participates.
From Grant to Equity: Community Ownership Models That Outlast Donors
Donor-funded community programmes routinely collapse when funding cycles end. Building on ten years of the QEI Holdings model, this paper sets out how community shareholding structures replace grant dependence with dividend income — and what the returns data shows.
Working papers
Analytical work in progress — circulated to practitioners and researchers for comment before formal publication.
2026-02
Services-for-Equity: Evidence from a Decade of Portfolio Data
The first systematic review of Caban's own model: survival rates, time-to-investability, and outcomes for businesses that entered through services-for-equity versus conventional funding routes — published with the failures included.
2026-03
Pre-IPO Governance Readiness Among South African Mid-Caps
A structured assessment of governance and reporting readiness across South African mid-cap growth companies against JSE listing requirements — and the gap analysis boards should run two years before any listing decision.
2026-05
What Liquidation Preferences Cost Founders at African Exit Values
Building on the Africa Term Sheet Guide: a worked analysis of how 1x, participating and multiple liquidation preferences redistribute proceeds between founders and investors at the exit values African growth companies actually achieve, and where the standard Western term sheet default stops making sense.
Get the research first
Early access to every white paper and working paper on release — before general publication.