The Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NGX Group, Temi Popoola, has advocated the need for a more integrated approach to capital formation across Africa with a view to connecting businesses with strong sources of funding to catalyze their growth and position them for competitiveness in the global market.
The investment expert made the call at the Financial Times Africa Summit 2026 in London on Wednesday in his contributions during a panel session titled “Building African Champions – The Investment Case for Scaling SMEs.”
He noted that capital markets in Sub-Sharan Africa (SSA) had primarily focused on large, mature companies ready to list, while promising businesses often require several rounds of financing before they can access public markets, stressing that “historically, we have taken a sort of a top-down approach to look for big companies ready to go public” and that businesses typically progress from founder funding and support from friends and family to venture capital, private investment and, ultimately, public-market financing.
Popoola maintained that the growing availability of private capital, alongside fewer new listings and an increase in de-listings across several capital markets, had made it imperative for the regulators of the markets to develop a more connected capital formation ecosystem.
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According to hi, rather than waiting for businesses to mature before engaging with them, capital market institutions must find ways to support promising enterprises earlier in their development.
To achieve this, the NGX Group boss said that it required stronger connections between public markets and the broader investment landscape, including private equity, venture capital and institutional investors. Such linkages can help businesses access financing as they grow while creating potential exit opportunities for private investors through public listings.
Similarly, he also highlighted family-owned enterprises, describing them as hidden champions that could make significant contributions to African capital markets if supported to scale and access appropriate sources of capital.
Popoola listed receivables and invoice financing as another way capital markets can help ease funding constraints facing smaller businesses, adding that by enabling companies to leverage invoices, receivables and purchase orders linked to larger corporate customers, these financing structures can help SMEs unlock working capital and sustain growth.
Popoola’s contributions at the session underscored the importance of a connected financing ecosystem in enabling promising African businesses to transition into established enterprises, attract institutional investment and expand beyond their domestic markets.
Investment experts believe that achieving this requires collaboration across public and private capital providers, supported by capital markets equipped to facilitate sustainable business growth and broader economic development.
In Nigeria, the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) Group Board is supporting small-cap and growth-oriented companies with a pathway to raise long-term capital through the public market, supported by more flexible listing requirements.
The Nigerian Exchange Limited is also working with institutions such as the Bank of Industry (BOI) to strengthen SME investment readiness through targeted engagements, capacity building, and greater awareness of capital market financing opportunities as part of their collaboration to support the development of a stronger funding pipeline for businesses to access financing from the capital markets for sustainable growth.
The Financial Times Africa Summit 2026 featured business and financial sector leaders, who examined investment opportunities and the conditions required to support Africa’s next generation of business champions.
