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Pricing an African private deal usually means borrowing multiples from markets that don't resemble ours, then discounting by instinct. On Stears, you can now build a defensible comp set in minutes with the Comps Screener. Find African comps: stears.co/info/request-t…

My Father's Shadow made history as the first Nigerian film in Cannes' Official Selection, later earning a Caméra d'Or Special Mention and a BAFTA for Outstanding Debut. Its success also highlights a bigger story: in African cinema, distribution is becoming just as valuable as production. With only ~100 cinemas serving 200M+ Nigerians, those who control release windows control access to an increasingly valuable box office. As institutional capital enters the sector, distribution infrastructure could become one of Africa's most strategic media assets. Our latest report explores the film industry across Southern and West Africa: stears.co/info/request-a…

Nigeria is one of Africa's most important sports betting markets, driven by a young population and deep football culture. GeoPoll's 2024 survey found that 65% of young Nigerians have placed a bet before, but over half spend less than $10 a month. This is a market built on volume and repetition, not big spenders. When stakes are small, a customer's value comes from how often they return, and that depends on things as simple as a deposit that doesn't fail or a withdrawal that lands on time. Access Stears' latest analysis on sports betting in Nigeria: stears.co/info/request-t…

Last week in African markets, development finance did the heavy lifting. Uganda drew up to $3.8 billion from the World Bank under a new 10-year partnership framework. Egypt reached an IMF staff-level agreement clearing about $1.6 billion in new financing. Nigeria secured $1.25 billion from the World Bank, alongside a $2.84 billion road drive. South Africa, Kenya, Côte d'Ivoire, the DRC and Togo all closed multilateral facilities. Access a full breakdown in this week's Stears Weekly Macro outlook: stears.co/info/request-t…

Craneburg EKSG Motorway issued a N32.5 billion, 20-year bond with InfraCredit's guarantee, achieving an Aaa rating from Agusto and Co, making it eligible for domestic institutional investors financing the 68km Ekiti Ring Road. Lagos Free Zone raised N53 billion across three guaranteed issuances to finance Nigeria's largest integrated port-based economic zone. By December 2024, InfraCredit had guaranteed 24 transactions and mobilised over N200 billion in private investment. Pension funds accounted for 56% of institutional investor participation in supported issuances. Uncover how @InfraCredit is unlocking domestic capital for Nigerian infrastructure in our latest report: stears.co/info/request-t…

African fundraising hit $4B in 2024, its best year in five years. But capital isn’t flowing the way it used to. DFIs still account for 42% of fundraising value. LPs now want to see exits before they will even talk about a second fund. And GPs claiming “pan-African” reach without people on the ground in those markets are getting caught out in diligence. Right now, LPs are only willing to back tested and proven GPs. Review the LP checklist before your next fundraise: stears.co/info/request-t…

Investment banks in Sub-Saharan Africa earned $169.3 million in fees in the first half of 2025. That's the weakest six months since 2012. Want to understand why debt-related fees, loans and bonds, now make up 62% of all banking fees on the continent? Read our latest report on understanding Africa’s debt centric investment banking model: stears.co/info/request-t…

By early March 2026, 30 of 33 banks had met their new thresholds, raising ₦4.05 trillion between them, largely through rights issues, public offers, and private placements rather than mergers. That is a different outcome from the last major reset, Soludo's 2004/2005 consolidation, which cut the industry from 89 banks to 25. This time, the market cleared the capital calls directly. The lending implication follows from the numbers on this table. Single-obligor exposure is capped at 20% of shareholders' funds: a bank now capitalised at ₦500 billion can legally lend up to ₦100 billion to one borrower, more than double the ceiling at the old ₦50 billion threshold. That is the ceiling investment banks and large borrowers should be watching. Request a trial to access the full report:stears.co/info/request-t…

Lagos may be widely recognised as the benchmark residential market in West Africa, but when you look at property yield, it is not the best in the region. A 4-bedroom semi-detached duplex yields 10.47% in Accra, against 4.76% in Lagos, and a 3-bedroom flat yields 7.23% in Accra, against 4.95% in Lagos. Accra outperforms across most property types in this comparison. Lagos has built a deeper premium market than Accra, and prime sale prices, in locations like Ikoyi and Banana Island, have risen faster than rents can follow. Investors there are pricing in appreciation, when thinking about purchasing properties. Stears breaks down Nigeria's residential real estate in our latest report: stears.co/info/request-t…

IT’S OFFICIAL. 🚨 Stears just secured $450,000 in catalytic funding from Cascador. If you want to invest in Africa, build in Africa, or govern Africa, you need reliable data. Preston Ideh and the Stears team have been building that infrastructure since 2017. Today Cascador backed them to take it further across the continent. Congratulations Preston 🎉 @StearsData #CascadorPitchDay2026

Sourcing the right companies in African markets that fit your strategy can be quite challenging. The Stears Company Screener lets you go from a broad market scan to a targeted shortlist in seconds. Less time scanning. More time on the right opportunities. Request a trial: bit.ly/4sNgtYL

The Stears Comps Screener now filters by exact comparable data points. Select Implied EV, EV/Revenue, or EV/EBITDA. Every result contains the multiple you're looking for. Cleaner comps. Faster. Built on African market data. Live now. bit.ly/4c072jF

Valuation benchmarks for African private markets are now live on Stears. The standard move when pricing an African deal has been to pull US, European or Asian comps and apply a discount. That discount is a guess. There's no data behind it. Now there is. Price with confidence: bit.ly/4m8EOXi

Africa’s infrastructure story is shifting from asset build-out to platform scale. Across fibre, cloud, data centres, and cold chain, value is increasingly driven by utilisation, customer growth, and regional expansion rather than construction alone. Returns may depend less on financing assets and more on building platforms well, with operators and platform builders playing a larger role and institutional capital positioned behind them. See the signals shaping African infrastructure: share.hsforms.com/1Koufu6ZETZKZZ…

Capital is still flowing into Africa, but pricing is shifting. Higher sovereign yields, concessional European financing, and local bank participation in energy infrastructure all point to a more selective market environment. See how investors are positioning: share.hsforms.com/1Koufu6ZETZKZZ…

African infrastructure is moving into new hands. MTN’s move to regain control of IHS signals a broader shift in ownership across towers, fibre, and digital platforms from financial sponsors to strategic operators building long-term platforms. Understand who will own African infrastructure next: share.hsforms.com/1Koufu6ZETZKZZ…

We are live at the PEVCA Policy Capital Summit 2026, showcasing how Stears provides private capital investors, advisers, and institutions with structured intelligence on African markets — covering transactions, macro trends, and sector dynamics. See how leading teams evaluate opportunities with greater precision. share.hsforms.com/1Koufu6ZETZKZZ…

Nigeria’s bank recapitalisation is quietly testing the depth of its capital markets. After the Central Bank raised minimum capital thresholds in 2024, banks mobilised ₦4.05tn (~$2.9bn) in new equity within two years, with 30 of 33 banks meeting the requirement by March 2026. Nigeria’s equity market may be able to absorb more large-scale issuance than recent non-bank deal flow suggests. Request a trial to track the capital flows shaping African markets. bit.ly/4lx5gd0