M. LEWIS GROUP is a Zambia-headquartered institutional platform spanning investment, advisory, venture building, private capital and research. The platform is focused on building businesses into growth-ready enterprises, financing their expansion, and scaling their impact across Africa's productive economy.
We combine venture-building, strategic advisory, private capital, and operating partnerships to help companies strengthen their foundations, become growth-ready, and transition from promising local businesses into scalable regional platforms.
Our focus extends beyond investing in companies. We identify businesses positioned at critical points in Africa's value chains and work alongside them to strengthen the systems required for growth — connecting capital, technology, production, infrastructure, logistics, and markets to build more competitive and scalable enterprises.
Our investment philosophy is straightforward:
"We look for businesses positioned at critical points in Africa's value chains—energy, food, logistics, technology, finance, manufacturing and distribution—with the potential to become growth-ready, scalable enterprises. We invest where strategic capital, operating expertise and connectivity can strengthen these businesses, unlock their growth potential and connect them to the broader ecosystems around them."
At its core:
"We invest in and help build the infrastructure through which goods, capital, technology and markets move across Africa."
Africa's next phase of economic growth will require more than capital. It will require productive businesses, reliable infrastructure, stronger regional supply chains, technology, financial innovation and companies capable of operating across borders.
M. LEWIS GROUP intends to operate at the intersection of these opportunities.
Our objective is to become a trusted strategic and capital partner to entrepreneurs, business owners, investors and institutions building the next generation of African businesses.
Advice, relationships and capital—working together
Our model is:
Build stronger enterprises. Mobilise the right capital. Scale across Africa.
M. LEWIS GROUP works with businesses at different stages of their journey — from emerging ventures and established SMEs to growth companies and regional enterprises. We diagnose where you are, determine what you need next, and deploy the right combination of strategy, enterprise building, capital and growth execution.
Advice, relationships, capital and execution — working together across the lifecycle of every business we serve.
We help businesses determine what to build, how to structure it, where to compete, how to scale and how to become investment-ready.
We build the commercial, financial and organisational architecture required to turn a promising business into an investment-grade enterprise.
We provide or arrange capital for businesses and projects that demonstrate attractive commercial potential and strategic relevance.
Where appropriate, we work alongside founders and management teams beyond the investment decision — supporting execution, partnerships, expansion and value creation.
A business may have capital but lack strategy.
Another may have a strong strategy but lack capital.
Another may have a good product but lack distribution.
Another may have customers but lack infrastructure.
M. LEWIS GROUP seeks to connect these missing pieces through our services:
We help leaders make better decisions, navigate complexity and create long-term enterprise value. From growth strategy and market expansion to transformation, restructuring and strategic partnerships, we work alongside management and boards on the decisions that matter most.
We work with ambitious founders and emerging businesses to build stronger, more scalable and investment-ready companies. We support strategy, commercialisation, governance, financial modelling, investor readiness, fundraising and growth.
We advise businesses and shareholders on the transactions that shape value. Our capabilities include capital raising, mergers and acquisitions, valuation, financial structuring, restructuring, transaction preparation and strategic finance.
We connect exceptional businesses and investment opportunities with appropriate sources of capital. Through our investor relationships, venture capabilities and private-capital platform, we seek to facilitate and, where appropriate, participate in transactions that create long-term value.
Wherever you are in your journey, you can engage us at any stage.
Enter at any stage of the journey:
“We combine entrepreneurial execution, strategic advice, transaction expertise, and investment capital to help build and scale businesses.”
Find promising businesses, sectors, entrepreneurs, transactions, and investment opportunities.
Where appropriate, work directly with entrepreneurs to develop ventures, establish business models, build teams, and create institutional foundations.
Work with owners, executives, and boards on growth strategy, market expansion, partnerships, restructuring, M&A, and other strategic decisions.
Determine what type of capital a business needs—equity, debt, growth capital, strategic investors, or other forms—and structure or arrange it.
Use investment-banking capabilities for acquisitions, disposals, capital raises, restructurings, and other significant corporate transactions.
Where there is alignment and appropriate mandate/structure, deploy private capital into businesses and opportunities identified through the platform.
Remain involved as businesses grow, helping them institutionalize, scale, attract further capital, pursue acquisitions, and eventually realize value.
We are an integrated investment and advisory platform combining venture creation, strategic advisory, corporate finance, investment banking, and private capital to support businesses and investors across the corporate and investment lifecycle.
Operating under one institutional architecture:
Help create, launch, or incubate businesses, potentially including taking equity positions.
Advise founders, management teams, boards, and shareholders on strategy, growth, restructuring, market entry, M&A, and other major decisions.
Help businesses raise and structure capital, manage balance sheets, conduct valuations, and execute financial transactions.
Provide transaction-oriented services such as M&A, capital raising, restructuring, and strategic transactions.
Deploy or arrange private investment capital through growth capital, or other investment structures.
A founder starts a company
Our platform helps build the business into growth-ready enterprise
We provide strategic advice as it grows
We help arrange its first institutional financing
We advise on a larger capital raise or acquisition
Our private-capital arm may invest alongside other investors
Eventually, we advise on an exit, sale, IPO, or recapitalization
We partner with leaders and organizations at every stage
Building high-growth businesses into growth-ready enterprises
Seeking growth or strategic transformation
Considering acquisitions, exits or succession
Seeking differentiated opportunities in Southern Africa
Seeking strategic and investment expertise
Seeking access to African opportunities
We focus on businesses that strengthen the productive economy.
We are particularly interested in opportunities that improve financial inclusion, increase productivity, strengthen supply chains, expand essential infrastructure and modernise commerce across Africa.
We believe strong economies are built by strong businesses.
Our objective is therefore not simply to finance businesses, but to help build enduring enterprises capable of creating employment, innovation, economic value and competitive advantage.
M. LEWIS GROUP is designed to partner with businesses across their lifecycle—from early-stage opportunity and strategic development to growth capital, acquisitions and long-term ownership.
We bring together advice, relationships and capital under one platform.
Building the businesses that power Africa's next economy.
Join the M. LEWIS GROUP team and build your future with us.
Join the Team →We work with entrepreneurs, companies, investors and institutions at critical moments of growth, transformation and investment.
The story of M. LEWIS GROUP — why we exist, what we believe about Africa's next economy, and the platform we are building.
M. LEWIS GROUP was founded on a straightforward conviction: the next phase of Africa's economic growth will not be driven by capital alone. It will be driven by businesses capable of deploying technology, creating jobs, developing infrastructure, adding value to resources, and connecting markets.
Too often, capital sits waiting for the right business. Too often, promising businesses wait for the right capital. The gap between the two is rarely a shortage of money. It is a shortage of the businesses, systems and support structures that allow capital to be deployed productively and at scale.
M. LEWIS GROUP was built to close that gap — by building, financing and scaling businesses that strengthen Africa's productive economy.
"Africa's next economy will not simply be consumed. It will be built."
We believe Africa's greatest opportunities will increasingly emerge where different economic systems intersect.
Energy + Industry
Capital + Enterprise
Technology + Production
Agriculture + Processing
Logistics + Trade
Finance + Distribution
Infrastructure + Regional Markets
Our role is to identify these intersections and turn them into investable and scalable businesses.
Most businesses in Africa face multiple constraints at the same time. It is rarely just capital. It is capital, strategy, distribution, governance, systems and market access — all at once.
Traditional advisory firms provide advice. Traditional investment firms provide capital. Traditional operating companies build and run businesses. M. LEWIS GROUP was designed to connect all three.
We help businesses determine what to build, how to structure it, where to compete, how to scale, and how to become investment-ready.
We provide or arrange capital for businesses and projects that demonstrate attractive commercial potential and strategic relevance.
Where appropriate, we work alongside founders and management teams beyond the investment decision — supporting execution, partnerships and value creation.
A business may have capital but lack strategy. Another may have strategy but lack capital. Another may have product but lack distribution. M. LEWIS GROUP exists to connect these missing pieces.
Every business we build, back or partner with moves through four connected stages.
The entry point into every relationship.
Every relationship begins here. We work with entrepreneurs, companies, investors and institutions on the strategic, financial and commercial challenges that determine whether a business can grow.
Across
→ Business & growth strategy
→ Market entry & expansion
→ Business model development
→ Financial modelling & capital strategy
→ Investment readiness
→ Operational strategy
→ M&A & partnerships
→ Corporate structuring & value-chain development
Creating opportunities, not just waiting for them.
Where we identify an attractive opportunity not yet adequately served by the market, M. LEWIS GROUP may participate in building the business itself — developing new ventures, partnering with entrepreneurs, structuring joint ventures or acquiring and restructuring existing businesses.
→ Developing new ventures
→ Partnering with entrepreneurs
→ Incubating businesses
→ Structuring joint ventures
→ Acquiring & restructuring businesses
→ Building regional platforms
→ Combining complementary businesses
Matching capital to the underlying economics of a business.
M. LEWIS GROUP may provide or arrange capital depending on the opportunity, risk profile and stage of the business. We believe capital should be matched to the underlying economics of a business — not deployed simply for its own sake.
→ Equity & growth capital
→ Private debt & structured capital
→ Working capital
→ Acquisition & project finance
→ Co-investment & strategic syndication
The objective is not simply to deploy capital. It is to deploy capital into businesses where it can unlock measurable enterprise value.
From local business to regional platform.
Once a business has demonstrated product-market fit and commercial viability, we help accelerate its growth — operationally, commercially and geographically.
→ Operational improvement
→ Technology deployment
→ Management support
→ New market entry
→ Strategic & distribution partnerships
→ M&A & capital raising
→ Regionalisation
LOCAL BUSINESS → GROWTH COMPANY → REGIONAL PLATFORM
M. LEWIS GROUP is being built as a long-term African strategic capital platform. Not the largest firm on the continent — the most effective one at identifying, building, financing and scaling productive African businesses.
Over time, the platform will evolve from deploying balance-sheet capital into managing dedicated investment structures — venture and growth capital funds, private credit vehicles, sector-specific platforms and co-investment vehicles — allowing the Group to move from individual transactions toward a repeatable capital deployment model.
→ A strong advisory practice
→ A diversified portfolio of operating businesses
→ Strategic investments across selected sectors
→ A network of entrepreneurs and institutional partners
→ Repeatable investment and value-creation processes
→ Regional operating capabilities
→ Dedicated capital vehicles
→ A portfolio of interconnected businesses
Africa's next generation of significant companies will not be built by companies operating in isolation. They will emerge from connected systems.
→ Energy will enable industry.
→ Finance will enable enterprise.
→ Technology will increase productivity.
→ Logistics will connect production to markets.
→ Manufacturing will create value from resources.
→ Regional integration will provide scale.
→ Digital infrastructure will connect businesses and customers.
M. LEWIS GROUP intends to operate at the intersection of these systems — identifying the businesses capable of becoming important nodes within them and providing the strategy, capital, relationships and operating support required to scale them.
M. LEWIS GROUP's team combines institutional platform expertise spanning venture-building, strategic advisory, corporate finance, investment banking, and private capital, with local market intelligence.
Experienced professionals bringing together strategy, capital, advisory and venture building.
The ultimate objective is to participate in the creation of businesses that do more than grow. They become part of the economic infrastructure through which Africa's next economy is built.
We intend to be a partner to the entrepreneurs, business owners, investors and institutions building those companies.
M. LEWIS GROUP
BUILD. FINANCE. SCALE.
Africa's next economy will not simply be consumed. It will be built.
Five connected platforms — each serving a distinct purpose and audience.
M. Lewis Group operates through five connected platforms, each designed for a specific purpose and audience across the business, investment and capital lifecycle.
→ Group Platform
The parent platform bringing together the Group's businesses across advisory, investment banking, private capital, venture building, and consulting & research.
→ Investment Banking & Corporate Finance Advisory
Boutique investment banking and corporate finance advisory for established growth and mid-market companies, with trusted relationships across the private-equity and family-office ecosystem.
→ Private Capital Platform
An Africa-focused private capital platform connecting growth-ready businesses and high-potential ventures with private capital across the venture, growth and impact spectrum.
→ Venture-Building Platform
A venture-building platform that builds and strengthens high-potential small and medium-sized businesses into growth-ready, investment-ready enterprises.
→ Financial Consulting | Market Entry | Equity Research
An independent Zambia-based firm specializing in financial consulting, market entry advisory, and equity research. We provide research-driven financial analysis, market intelligence, and strategic insight to businesses, investors, and institutions across Zambia and African markets.
One institution. Five doors.
Not sure which door is right for you? We can help you find the right entry point.
Contact Our Team →Structured programmes designed around the real stage, situation and ambition of each business we work with.
Each programme addresses a distinct stage of enterprise growth. Most clients engage more than one.
Understand where you are and what you need next.
Build the enterprise required for your next stage of growth.
Strengthen the enterprise and prepare it for growth capital.
Mobilise the right capital for the right purpose.
Convert capital into measurable enterprise growth.
Replicate your business across African markets.
Ongoing strategic and corporate advisory for established enterprises.
Strategy
Business Design
Financial Structuring
Investment Readiness
Capital
Growth
Regional Expansion
Businesses can enter at any point. We determine the appropriate pathway based on your current position, ambition and requirements.
Every engagement follows a structured process. The depth of each stage depends on where the business is and where it needs to go.
Where is the business today?
We Assess
Where does the business need to go?
We Establish
What must change for the business to get there?
We Build
What resources are required?
We Mobilise
How do we turn the plan into results?
We Support
How do we turn one successful business into a regional enterprise?
We Drive
"We have an idea but need to know if it is commercially viable."
→ BUILD"We've started generating revenue but need to build the company properly."
→ BUILD"We're growing but need capital to take the business to the next level."
→ GROWTH & CAPITAL"We're profitable but can't seem to access institutional capital."
→ BUILD + FUND"We know how much capital we need. We need help raising it."
→ CAPITAL"We've raised capital but need help deploying it effectively."
→ SCALE"Our domestic business works. We want to enter other African markets."
→ AFRICA EXPANSIONYou don't have to know what service you need.
Tell us where your business is today and where you want to take it. Our Enterprise Diagnostic identifies the constraints, opportunities and capabilities required to move the enterprise to its next stage.
Commercial
Financial
Operational
Organisational
Institutional
Capital & Expansion
Current Stage → Gaps → Priorities → Intervention → Capital → Roadmap
Build the enterprise required for your next stage of growth.
Many promising businesses are held back not by lack of ambition, but by the absence of the commercial, financial and organisational architecture that makes growth possible — and makes a business investable.
The Build Programme works alongside founders and management teams to put that architecture in place.
Whether the goal is a stronger operating business, readiness for investment, or preparation for regional expansion, we help design and build the enterprise that the next stage requires.
Strengthen the enterprise and prepare it for growth capital.
For businesses already generating revenue and demonstrating traction, the next stage typically requires both stronger enterprise foundations and access to growth capital.
This programme prepares the business for that capital — strengthening financial reporting, unit economics, governance and structure — while simultaneously developing the case and the relationships needed to raise it.
Mobilise the right capital for the right purpose.
When the enterprise is ready and the capital requirement is clearly defined, M. LEWIS works as a capital partner — structuring the transaction, preparing the investment case, and engaging the appropriate capital sources.
We do not approach capital as simply "how much money do you want?" Instead: what is the business trying to achieve, what capital does that require, and what financing structure best fits the enterprise?
Working Capital
Trade finance / working-capital facilities
Equipment
Asset finance
Expansion
Growth capital — debt / equity / structured capital
Acquisition
Acquisition finance / equity
New Market Entry
Growth capital / strategic capital
Infrastructure
Project / structured finance
Capital Requirement → Financial Structuring → Investment Readiness → Capital Mandate → Transaction
Capital is not the destination. Growth is.
Raising capital is only one part of the journey. M. LEWIS helps businesses deploy capital into productive assets, capabilities and opportunities that create measurable enterprise value.
Capital → Capacity → Revenue → EBITDA → Cash Flow → Market Share → Enterprise Value → Jobs / Economic Impact
"…scale their impact across Africa's productive economy."
From Local Enterprise to African Enterprise.
Regional expansion is not simply a matter of choosing a country and opening a branch. It requires country prioritisation, market assessment, capital strategy and — critically — the enterprise architecture required to operate across markets.
Country prioritisation
Market assessment
Market-entry strategy
Distribution
Partnerships
Joint ventures
Acquisitions
Subsidiaries
Local financing
Integration
Performance management
Expansion Approach
We don't help businesses "expand into Africa." We help determine where, when, why and how they should expand — and build the architecture to do it successfully.
Ongoing strategic and corporate advisory for established enterprises.
For established enterprises, strategy is not a one-off exercise. It is an ongoing discipline — the ability to make better decisions, navigate complexity and create long-term enterprise value.
M. LEWIS works alongside management and boards on growth strategy, market expansion, transformation, restructuring, capital strategy and strategic partnerships.
A short self-assessment for businesses considering raising institutional capital.
Do you have reliable management accounts?
Is your corporate structure clear?
Can you explain your unit economics?
Do you have a credible financial model?
Is your management team scalable?
Are contracts and licences in order?
Can you demonstrate how the capital will create returns?
Can the business absorb and deploy the capital?
M. LEWIS can help build the enterprise required to become capital-ready. Most businesses we work with are not yet ready for institutional capital — that is precisely where the Build and Growth & Capital Programmes begin.
Start an Enterprise Diagnostic →Investment Banking & Advisory
Venture Building & Early-Stage Investment
Address
New Chalala
Plot No. 355, Off Shatumbu Road
Lusaka 10101, Zambia
General Enquiries
info@mlewisgroup.comM. Lewis Group is headquartered in Lusaka, Zambia, with reach across Sub-Saharan Africa. We welcome enquiries from businesses, investors, and institutions at any stage.
Build with M. LEWIS GROUP
Whether you are a founder, business owner, investor or institution, we welcome the opportunity to explore how we can work together.
M. LEWIS GROUP works with entrepreneurs, companies, investors and institutions across Africa. Tell us a little about yourself and what you're looking to build, and we'll get back to you if there is a strong fit.
Building growth-ready enterprises and looking for a long-term partner across strategy, capital and execution.
Family offices, private investors and institutions seeking differentiated access to African private-market opportunities.
Co-creating ventures, exploring strategic partnerships, or seeking advisory and capital capability on the ground in Africa.
Our team is available via email or WhatsApp.
Access African Private-Market Opportunities
Join our investor network and gain access to carefully selected private-market opportunities across Africa.
M. LEWIS GROUP works with family offices, private investors, institutional capital and strategic partners seeking differentiated exposure to Africa's private markets. Register your interest below and we'll be in touch with relevant opportunities.
Families and family offices seeking long-term private-market exposure and access to carefully vetted opportunities in Africa.
High-net-worth individuals and institutional investors looking for differentiated African private-market opportunities.
Corporate and strategic investors seeking co-investment opportunities or partnership alongside M. LEWIS GROUP.
We are expanding our team and are looking for talented professionals to join our growing institutional platform.
We are currently seeking professionals and experienced practitioners across investment banking, corporate advisory, capital raising, venture building, business development and operations.
Eight positions across strategy, advisory, capital, ventures, business development and operations.
Help shape the Group's strategy, identify opportunities, develop relationships and support the growth of the platform.
Lead and support corporate finance, transaction advisory, investment banking and strategic advisory mandates.
Work with businesses and ventures on capital strategy, investor readiness, fundraising and access to appropriate sources of capital.
Lead selected advisory engagements and capital-raising mandates, working with founders, businesses and investors.
Work alongside founders and entrepreneurs to develop, structure and grow promising ventures.
Research, assess and help develop selected investment and business opportunities for the Group's platform.
Build relationships with businesses, investors, entrepreneurs, institutions and strategic partners.
Support the Group's internal operations, administration, coordination, documentation and execution across mandates.
We are interested in people who bring experience, initiative, commercial thinking, strong networks and a desire to build something meaningful.
Some positions may be suitable for experienced professionals, independent practitioners or partners, depending on the mandate and level of responsibility.
If you believe your experience can contribute to the next chapter of M. LEWIS GROUP, we would like to hear from you.
Submit your application and tell us how your experience can contribute to M. LEWIS GROUP.
Join the M. LEWIS GROUP team
Complete the form below. Please indicate which opportunity you are applying for and tell us about your experience.
Capital. Insight. Execution.
Zambia-headquartered | Investment Banking | Corporate Finance | Private Equity & Family Office Relationships
M. Lewis Capital Partners is a Zambia-headquartered investment and advisory firm providing boutique investment banking and corporate finance solutions to established growth and mid-market companies, while building trusted relationships with investors, family offices and institutions, with a focus on private-equity and family-office opportunities.
We work at the intersection of capital, strategy and transactions, helping established businesses navigate important financial and strategic decisions while connecting with relevant investors and capital partners.
Boutique investment banking and corporate finance advisory for established growth and mid-market companies.
Independent, tailored and execution-focused advisory across capital, strategy and transactions.
We provide tailored investment banking advice to established growth and mid-market companies on significant corporate transactions and strategic financial opportunities, including:
We provide independent financial analysis and strategic advice across:
We build and maintain relationships with private-equity investors, family offices and institutions around relevant investment and transaction opportunities, including:
We work with companies and capital partners across the corporate and investment lifecycle.
We combine financial expertise, transaction capabilities and trusted relationships across the investment ecosystem to provide independent, tailored and execution-focused advice.
We seek to understand the commercial objectives behind each mandate and help clients navigate the financial, strategic and transactional decisions required to achieve them.
M. Lewis Capital Partners — boutique investment banking and corporate finance advisory for established growth and mid-market companies, with trusted relationships across the private-equity and family-office ecosystem.
M. Lewis Capital Partners focuses on established growth and mid-market companies operating in sectors with significant commercial scale, capital requirements and transaction opportunities.
Our sector focus reflects the types of established growth and mid-market businesses we seek to advise and the sectors where we see potential for corporate finance, investment banking and strategic transaction opportunities.
We bring sector understanding together with financial analysis, transaction expertise and relationships with investors, family offices and institutions, with a focus on private-equity and family-office opportunities.
Whether you are considering a strategic transaction, seeking investment banking or corporate finance advice, or exploring a private-equity or family-office opportunity, M. Lewis Capital Partners welcomes the opportunity to understand your objectives.
M. Lewis Capital Partners
CAPITAL. INSIGHT. EXECUTION.
Curated Access to Africa's Private Markets
M. Lewis Partners is an investor-focused private-market platform sourcing, evaluating and curating investment opportunities across Africa.
We give family offices, private investors and institutional capital access to opportunities they may not otherwise discover.
Through local market knowledge, trusted relationships and disciplined opportunity evaluation, we identify selected private-market opportunities and connect them with sophisticated investors seeking differentiated exposure to Africa.
We believe exceptional private-market opportunities are often found through relationships, local knowledge and disciplined sourcing—not simply through traditional investment channels.
M. Lewis Partners focuses on identifying opportunities with the potential to create meaningful long-term value.
Our approach is built around
We develop relationships across African markets to identify compelling private investment opportunities.
We assess opportunities through commercial, financial, strategic and risk considerations to determine whether they merit investor attention.
We select and present opportunities that align with the interests and investment objectives of our investor network.
We facilitate access between selected opportunities and appropriate family offices, private investors and institutional capital.
Our primary focus is on capital providers seeking access to carefully selected private-market opportunities across Africa, including:
Family offices
High-net-worth individuals
Private investors
Institutional investors
Strategic corporate investors
Development-finance and impact-oriented investors
We are interested in selected opportunities across Africa's private markets, including:
Private equity and growth investments
Private companies seeking expansion capital
Strategic acquisitions and transactions
Private credit and structured opportunities
Infrastructure and real assets
Agribusiness and other productive sectors
Co-investment opportunities
Our focus is not on volume. We focus on quality, selectivity and the potential for long-term value creation.
M. Lewis Partners is being built with a clear long-term ambition:
To become a leading gateway connecting global capital and businesses with opportunities across African markets.
Our initial platform allows us to build the relationships, market intelligence, investment discipline and proprietary opportunity pipeline required to develop these capabilities over time.
As the platform evolves, our ambition is to move beyond providing investors with curated access to opportunities to selectively making investment through co-investments.
Built in Africa. Focused on Opportunity. Long-Term in Perspective.
M. Lewis Partners is founded on the belief that Africa's private markets offer significant opportunities for investors who have the right access, local relationships and investment discipline.
We seek to be a trusted partner to investors looking beyond conventional markets and seeking carefully selected opportunities across the continent.
Curated Access to Africa's Private Markets.
Venture | Growth | Impact
Capital for Africa's next leap.
AfriLeap Capital is an Africa-focused private capital platform helping growth-ready businesses, founders and high-potential ventures access the capital required to scale, expand and create lasting impact.
We connect private capital with promising African businesses and investment opportunities across the venture, growth and impact spectrum.
Private capital for Africa's next generation of venture, growth and impact opportunities.
Connecting private capital with promising African businesses across the venture, growth and impact spectrum.
We support promising African ventures with access to private capital and strategic resources needed to develop, scale and pursue their growth ambitions.
We connect growth-ready businesses with private capital to support expansion, market development, strategic investment and scale.
We support opportunities where commercial growth is aligned with measurable economic, social or environmental impact.
We help businesses prepare for investment, develop compelling investment propositions, identify suitable capital providers and structure opportunities to align the interests of companies and investors.
We believe Africa's next generation of businesses requires access to the right capital at the right stage of growth.
AfriLeap seeks to connect high-potential African businesses with appropriate private capital, helping companies move from opportunity to scale while creating compelling opportunities for investors.
AfriLeap Capital — helping African growth-ready businesses and high-potential ventures leap forward through private capital.
AfriLeap Capital focuses on high-potential African small and medium-sized businesses with the potential to become growth-ready enterprises.
We seek businesses where innovation, technology, scalable business models and strong market opportunities can support significant growth and create compelling opportunities for venture capital, growth capital and impact investing.
We seek to identify high-potential small and medium-sized businesses with the potential to progress into growth-ready enterprises.
We support that progression by helping businesses access the capital, relationships and resources required to:
Our sector focus is intentionally concentrated on businesses where technology, innovation, scalable models and market development can accelerate growth and create meaningful investment and impact opportunities.
Whether you are a growth-ready business seeking capital, a founder building the next generation of African enterprises, or an investor looking for compelling opportunities, AfriLeap Capital welcomes the opportunity to understand your objectives.
AfriLeap Capital
AFRICA-FOCUSED PRIVATE CAPITAL PLATFORM
Independent insight for better financial and strategic decisions across Zambia and African markets.
M. Lewis Consulting & Research is an independent financial consulting, market entry advisory, and equity research firm based in Zambia, providing rigorous, research-driven insights to businesses, investors, and institutions navigating opportunities across Zambia and African markets.
We combine financial expertise, market intelligence, and independent research to help clients understand markets, evaluate opportunities, solve complex business questions, and make informed financial and strategic decisions.
Our approach is grounded in evidence, analytical rigor, local market understanding, and practical commercial relevance. Our role is to turn complex financial and market information into clear, decision-useful insight.
Independent insight for better financial and strategic decisions.
They are connected by one central capability: research-driven financial and market intelligence.
The firm's primary consulting capability. We help businesses, investors, and institutions understand the financial dimensions of important decisions.
Core client question: “What do the numbers tell us, and what do they mean for the decision we need to make?”
We help businesses and investors assess opportunities to enter, expand within, or invest in African markets — determining commercial attractiveness, competitive environment, risks, and practical entry considerations.
Core client question: “Is this market attractive, how does it work, and what would it take to enter successfully?”
Independent analytical perspective on publicly listed companies and sectors. Initial emphasis on Zambia and selected African markets, with coverage expanding as capabilities and relationships develop.
Core research question: “What is happening in this company or sector, why does it matter, and what does the available evidence indicate?”
Financial analysis, strategic financial insight, market intelligence, expansion planning, and commercial research.
Company research, sector intelligence, market analysis, financial modelling, valuation, and investment research.
Financial research, sector intelligence, corporate analysis, market studies, and bespoke research.
Economic and sector research, market intelligence, feasibility studies, and specialized consulting.
Depth before geographic breadth. Zambia as the foundation, with progressive expansion across African markets.
Based in Zambia, the firm's initial area of deepest expertise, developing differentiated knowledge of:
Over time, extending research and consulting capabilities into selected African markets, driven by:
Our differentiation comes from the combination of capabilities we bring to every engagement.
We operate independently, allowing our research and consulting work to be centered on evidence and client requirements.
Consulting engagements are informed by research, analysis, data, and structured frameworks.
Financial consulting and equity research capabilities provide a stronger analytical foundation than a general market-research business.
Being based in Zambia provides proximity to the businesses, institutions, markets, and economic realities being analyzed.
Research should ultimately help answer a practical question: what does this information mean for the decision?
Complex financial and market information is translated into concise, understandable, decision-useful conclusions.
Every engagement and research product is built around a set of core principles.
Maintain analytical independence and clearly disclose relevant conflicts or limitations.
Use appropriate financial, economic, commercial, and research methodologies.
Ground conclusions in reliable information and distinguish verified information from assumptions and estimates.
Interpret financial and market information within the relevant African economic and commercial environment.
Focus on insights that can support real decisions.
Make assumptions, methodologies, limitations, and uncertainties clear.
A portfolio of recurring research products, developed progressively.
An annual publication covering economic conditions, capital markets, key sectors, business environment, investment themes, risks and uncertainties, and market developments.
A recurring publication tracking selected listed companies — financial performance, earnings, revenue, profitability, balance-sheet developments, valuation, corporate developments, and sector conditions.
Periodic deep-dive reports covering major or strategically important sectors.
A structured research product for businesses evaluating entry into selected African markets.
A recurring publication providing concise analysis of important developments affecting businesses, investors, and markets.
A balance between high-value consulting revenue and scalable research revenue.
Fees for financial consulting, market-entry studies, feasibility studies, commercial research, due diligence, sector studies, and bespoke research.
Recurring consulting and research relationships with selected clients.
Commissioned research for companies, investors, financial institutions, and organizations.
Potential paid access to equity research, sector research, market intelligence, databases, and research dashboards.
Recurring monitoring of companies, competitors, markets, sectors, regulations, and corporate developments.
From specialist consulting firm to a broader African financial intelligence platform.
Phase 1
Build the firm's reputation through financial consulting, market-entry assignments, and bespoke research.
Objective: Build clients, relationships, expertise, credibility, and cash flow.
Phase 2
Convert recurring knowledge into structured research products.
Objective: Build recurring revenue and proprietary intellectual property.
Phase 3
Develop a recognized financial and market intelligence platform covering Zambia and selected African markets.
Objective: Increase recurring revenue, institutional relationships, research coverage, and geographic reach.
A unified brand, organised around four pillars.
Financial analysis, modelling, valuation, corporate finance, and strategic financial consulting.
Market research, commercial intelligence, feasibility, and market-entry strategy.
Company research, sector research, financial analysis, valuation, and thematic research.
Reports, publications, market intelligence, briefings, and thought leadership.
To provide independent, rigorous, and research-driven financial and market insights that help businesses, investors, and institutions make better-informed decisions across Zambia and African markets.
To become a trusted independent source of financial consulting, market intelligence, and equity research for African markets.
Independent insight for better financial and strategic decisions.
M. Lewis Consulting & Research operates as a separate and independently positioned entity.
Its role is to help clients understand markets, businesses and opportunities through research, intelligence and strategic advisory.
It complements, but does not duplicate, the mandates of the other entities.
Understand
Build
Capitalise
Advise & Transact
These entities remain separate businesses with distinct mandates, client propositions and operating models.
A research-led financial consulting and market intelligence firm, with equity research as a core research capability.
M. Lewis Consulting & Research — Financial Consulting | Market Entry | Equity Research. Independent Insight. Rigorous Analysis. African Markets.
Whether you need financial consulting, market-entry advisory, equity research, or bespoke market intelligence, M. Lewis Consulting & Research welcomes the opportunity to understand your objectives.
M. Lewis Consulting & Research
FINANCIAL CONSULTING | MARKET ENTRY | EQUITY RESEARCH
Growth Capital for African Businesses
Tell us about your business. We review every application carefully and will reach out if there is a strong fit with our investment focus.
AfriLeap Capital invests in established African SMEs and private businesses with strong management teams, proven market demand, and the potential to scale. Our application process is designed to help us understand your business quickly and clearly.
US$25,000 – US$5 million
Growth capital for established businesses across Zambia & Southern Africa, with selective opportunities in other African markets.
Investment Banking & Corporate Finance Advisory
Tell us about your business and what you're looking to achieve. Our team will review your submission and get in touch if there is a strong fit.
M. Lewis Partners advises businesses, entrepreneurs, shareholders and institutions on growth, capital raising transactions, valuation, M&A, restructuring, and strategic financial decisions. Use the form below to start a conversation with our team.
Submit your venture for consideration
If you are a founder, business owner or sponsor seeking capital, share your venture with us. We curate selected private-market opportunities for our investor network.
M. Lewis Capital Partners works with founders and businesses across Africa. If your venture is seeking growth capital or strategic investment, submit the form below and our team will review it for inclusion in our curated opportunity pipeline.
Building and strengthening high-potential businesses into growth-ready enterprises.
Basiwel is a venture-building platform that builds and strengthens high-potential small and medium-sized businesses into growth-ready enterprises.
We work with promising business ideas, entrepreneurs and existing businesses to develop stronger business models, capabilities, operations and foundations for sustainable growth and investment readiness.
From high potential to growth readiness.
Basiwel focuses on businesses and opportunities across four sectors:
Digital financial services, payments, lending infrastructure, insurtech, financial inclusion and technology-enabled financial solutions.
Education technology, digital learning, vocational training, workforce development, skills platforms and technology-enabled education and training.
Logistics, supply-chain solutions, transportation, mobility, trade-enabling businesses and solutions facilitating intra-African commerce.
Enterprise software, SaaS, digital platforms, communications technology and technology-enabled businesses.
Basiwel does more than support small and medium-sized businesses. We build businesses and help develop them toward growth readiness.
We identify promising business ideas, entrepreneurs and existing small and medium-sized businesses with the potential to develop into scalable enterprises.
We strengthen business models, products, operations and management capabilities, helping businesses establish stronger foundations for sustainable growth.
We help businesses develop market traction, systems, technology and commercial capacity to support expansion and scale.
We strengthen financial, governance and investment readiness so that businesses are better positioned to engage with investors and other capital providers.
Where appropriate, we connect growth-ready businesses with relevant capital providers, strategic partners and other resources that can support their next stage of development.
Our objective is to help promising businesses progress from high potential to growth readiness.
Basiwel and AfriLeap Capital are separate entities with complementary mandates.
The relationship can be expressed simply:
Basiwel builds the businesses.
AfriLeap Capital helps connect growth-ready businesses to private capital.
More specifically:
Basiwel develops high-potential businesses into investment-ready, growth-ready enterprises, creating a pipeline of opportunities that may subsequently be considered for private capital through AfriLeap Capital or other appropriate capital providers.
Businesses developed by Basiwel are not automatically funded by AfriLeap Capital. Any subsequent investment or capital connection is subject to AfriLeap's investment focus, investment criteria, available capital, appropriate transaction structures and applicable regulatory requirements.
Builds
Capitalises
Together, while remaining separate entities, the two platforms can contribute to a broader pathway from business potential to enterprise growth and private capital.
Ventures enter the platform at any point. We determine what is required and build from there.
You can come with an idea. You can have a registered company with nothing built. You can have a launched business struggling to gain traction. Or you can already have revenue and need help scaling.
Basiwel meets you where you are, determines what the venture needs, and helps build it toward investment readiness and scale.
Different people enter through different doors. Everyone receives the same platform.
Scenario 01
Basiwel Venture Building
Scenario 02
Basiwel Venture Building
Scenario 03
Basiwel Growth
Scenario 04
Basiwel Ventures
Scenario 05
Basiwel Venture Partnerships
Basiwel is the umbrella. Different audiences enter through different doors — all supported by the same venture-building engine.
For founders with an idea or a pre-launch company. Validate, build, and prepare for launch and capital.
Explore Programmes →For businesses with traction. Diagnose, strengthen, fund, and scale into the next stage of growth.
Explore Programmes →For investors seeking access to investment-ready ventures built within the platform.
Explore Programmes →For corporates and institutions. Co-create and develop new ventures within a structured venture-building framework.
Explore Programmes →Whether you are an entrepreneur with a promising idea, an existing business seeking to strengthen and grow, or a partner looking to support venture building across Africa, Basiwel welcomes the opportunity to understand your objectives.
Master Brand
BASIWEL
Descriptor
VENTURE BUILDING
Positioning
A venture-building platform
Promise
We build investment-ready ventures.
Lifecycle
IDEA → VALIDATE → BUILD → LAUNCH → FUND → SCALE
Legal Identity
Basiwel Holistic Ventures Ltd
Whether you are starting with an idea or scaling a growing business, we welcome the conversation.
VENTURE-BUILDING PROGRAMMES
We build investment-ready ventures.
Basiwel works with entrepreneurs and businesses from idea to growth, providing the strategy, expertise, resources, networks and execution support required to build viable, scalable and investment-ready ventures.
Our programmes are structured around where your venture is today and what it needs to reach its next stage.
01 — VENTURE DISCOVERY
For: Founders with an idea, concept, or identified business opportunity.
Before investing heavily in a venture, we help you determine whether the opportunity is commercially worth pursuing.
Includes
Duration
2–4 weeks
Investment
From ZMW 6,550 / USD 350
Deliverable
Venture Opportunity Report + Venture Roadmap
Best for
"I have an idea. I need to know whether and how to build it."
02 — VENTURE BUILD
For: Validated ideas, registered but pre-launch companies, and ventures requiring significant development before entering the market.
This is our core venture-building programme.
Includes
Duration
8–16 weeks
Investment
From ZMW 26,600 / USD 1,400
Typical engagement: ZMW 35,000–100,000
For technology, manufacturing, regulated or otherwise complex ventures, the investment is determined following assessment.
Deliverable
A commercially structured and market-ready venture with a defined path to launch and investment readiness.
Best for
"I have a company or business concept, but the venture still needs to be built."
03 — VENTURE LAUNCH
For: Ventures with a functioning product or service that are ready to enter or expand in the market.
Includes
Duration
8–12 weeks
Investment
From ZMW 15,000/month ~ USD 750/month
Typical engagement: ZMW 20,000–50,000
Deliverable
A structured market-entry and customer-acquisition engine designed to generate measurable traction.
Best for
"We have built the product. Now we need customers and traction."
04 — INVESTMENT READINESS
For: Ventures preparing to raise external capital.
We don't simply prepare pitch decks. We strengthen the underlying business and investment proposition.
Includes
Duration
4–8 weeks
Investment
From ZMW 17,000 / USD 990
Typical engagement: ZMW 20,000–40,000
Deliverable
Investor-ready business and investment package.
Important
Basiwel prepares and strengthens the venture for investment but does not guarantee that funding will be secured.
Best for
"We have a credible business. We need to become investment-ready."
05 — VENTURE GROWTH
For: Existing ventures and SMEs with customers, revenue, or demonstrated market demand.
Includes
Duration
3–12 months
Investment
Growth Advisory: From ZMW 15,000/month ~ USD 789
Growth Partnership: From ZMW 21,000/month ~ USD 1,100
Final pricing depends on team involvement, complexity and scope.
Deliverable
A practical growth programme with measurable commercial and operational objectives.
Best for
"The business works. Now we want to make it significantly bigger."
06 — VENTURE PARTNERSHIP
For: Selected high-potential ventures where Basiwel can create substantial value through deeper involvement.
This is not a standard consulting engagement.
Basiwel may contribute
→ Venture strategy
→ Product development
→ Technology
→ Capital
→ Talent
→ Brand
→ Market access
→ Business development
→ Operational capabilities
→ Investor networks
→ Growth expertise
Depending on the opportunity:
Cash + Equity
Reduced Fees + Equity
Equity / Investment Partnership
The structure is individually negotiated following due diligence and agreement on the contributions, responsibilities, risks and expected value creation of each party.
Duration
6–36 months
Investment
Custom / Selected Ventures
Best for
"We want Basiwel to become a genuine co-builder of this venture."
SPECIAL PROGRAMME
For Founders Who Say: "I Need Funding."
Many ventures are not yet ready for investment—even when the founder believes they are.
Our Venture Readiness Sprint determines exactly what stands between your venture and investment readiness.
We assess
Duration
2 weeks
Investment
ZMW 6,650 / USD 350
Outcome
A Venture Readiness Scorecard identifying:
Particularly suitable for
Registered companies with an idea but no product, customers or revenue.
Instead of immediately trying to raise capital, Basiwel helps determine what should be built first and what capital is actually required to reach the next value-creation milestone.
Basiwel uses three principal engagement models. The right one depends on the venture, the founder's objectives, and Basiwel's expected contribution.
The client pays Basiwel for defined venture-building work.
Best for
Founders who want to retain maximum ownership.
The client contributes a reduced cash fee and Basiwel participates through an agreed equity position.
Best for
Promising early-stage ventures where Basiwel expects to contribute substantial execution value.
Basiwel becomes a deeper strategic and execution partner in selected ventures.
Best for
High-potential opportunities with significant long-term value creation potential.
| Where you are | Basiwel programme |
|---|---|
| I have an idea | Venture Discovery |
| I have an idea but need to prove it | Venture Discovery / Readiness Sprint |
| I have registered a company but nothing built | Venture Readiness → Venture Build |
| I have a product but no meaningful traction | Venture Build / Venture Launch |
| I am ready to enter the market | Venture Launch |
| I have customers and revenue | Venture Growth |
| I need to prepare for investors | Investment Readiness |
| I want Basiwel as a long-term partner | Venture Partnership |
We don't force every venture through the same programme.
ASSESS → VALIDATE → BUILD → LAUNCH → FUND → SCALE
Our first step is always to understand the venture, identify its gaps and determine the most appropriate pathway.
We don't just advise ventures.
We help build them.
BASIWEL
VENTURE BUILDING
We build investment-ready ventures.
Tell us where your venture is today. We'll help determine the right programme.