In late September 2025, Nairobi-based venture capital (VC) fund Novastar Ventures announced it had secured $10 million from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for its Novastar Ventures’ Africa People and Planet Fund III. This is a continuation of a trend that has seen JICA become a key LP investor over the last decade.
Whether this event turns out to be a footnote or the start of a wave is yet to be seen, but, notably, Japanese investors have begun to feature more regularly in Africa’s private capital ecosystem. Their participation remains small on a global scale, but the shift is notable. Trading houses, banks, and public institutions are now backing African private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) funds, and a handful of corporates are investing directly in startups and infrastructure.
The shift is still early, and the numbers are small. But there is enough activity to ask what
