Nana Barwuah’26 Is Connecting African Businesses With Global Investors

When Nana Barwuah ’26 studied abroad in Ghana for her thesis, she wasn’t planning to launch a nonprofit. But what she saw on the ground, a massive gap between African entrepreneurs and the capital they needed to grow, inspired her to start Afrovest, an organization she hopes will connect businesses across the continent with global investors and create new economic opportunities. In its first year, the nonprofit has surpassed its goal of securing $100 million in investment opportunities for the next five years.

Africa is facing a $331 billion financing gap for small and medium enterprises or businesses (SMEs), according to the International Finance Corporation. Afrovest, which launched this year, will host its first summit on Nov. 12 in Accra, Ghana, where 15 vetted SMEs across agriculture, fintech, artificial intelligence, logistics, and renewable energy will pitch directly to a curated group of global investors from around the world.

While Barwuah, who studied politics at Princeton, was trying to nail down her thesis topic, she took note of Ghana’s inconsistent lending practices. “I stumbled upon SME lending in Africa, and then my thesis adviser [John Londregan *88] told me that I needed to narrow down my idea,” she says. “I was lucky enough that Princeton was able to pay for me to go to Ghana and be on the ground to do field research.”

What she found was a glaring funding gap.

“Ninety percent of Ghana’s economy is informal, so it’s hard to grow your business there,” she says. “I knew there had to be a solution, and that’s when I thought of Afrovest.”

In the short time she’s spent building the organization, she’s had to learn to handle fundraising and the complexities of doing business across a continent made up of vastly different cultures and economies. It’s also taught Barwuah how to deal with being turned down.

“In the beginning, rejections would hurt,” she says. “But now I say, ‘OK, next.’ I think rejection helps you build thick skin, and I tell myself that they’ll regret it when it’s successful.”

She’s also had to learn to work in an environment where women remain underrepresented and there is no standard business practice across the continent. “I have to put that into perspective when I’m entering into a lot of these meetings because the cultures are so different from America, and I’ve grown up here,” she says.

Her Princeton education has helped her take on those challenges while also providing institutional support for Afrovest. Princeton’s Keller Center provided backing as she built the organization, while the University’s Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination Africa Program Fellowship is helping Afrovest curate a policy conversation at the upcoming summit.

Now, Barwuah is thinking beyond Afrovest’s first summit and its initial funding goals. The organization has already surpassed its $100 million target of the aggregate capital from the 15 companies in its current fundraising rounds. Afrovest is building the investor pipeline, identifying potential matches, facilitating introductions, and supporting the companies as they work toward closing their respective rounds.

She adds that conversations are currently underway in various industries and locations, including businesses in Egypt and Nigeria. One company, for example, is pursuing a fundraising round of $25 million. Afrovest has also helped make connections for businesses in renewable energy and healthcare technology that are working to expand into the hospital industry.

Long term, Barwuah hopes that funding businesses will ultimately create jobs and opportunities for young people, which is another of her passion projects. And she sees Afrovest eventually expanding beyond Africa to address funding challenges facing Black entrepreneurs in the United States and Europe.

For now, the focus is on getting African businesses in front of investors who might otherwise never have access to them, and proving that closing the funding gap can have effects far beyond the businesses themselves.

Nominate Other Inspiring Alumni. This story is part of a series highlighting the stories of alumni doing inspiring work. To nominate others, please email your ideas to paw@princeton.edu.