Included VC launches fellowship for working investment professionals in Africa, backed by FSD Africa and FMO

Four-month pilot targets analysts and associates already active in African venture markets, addressing a gap between capital growth and investor capability.

Included VC, a London-based organisation that provides education and training for investment professionals, has announced the Africa Investor Fellowship, a pilot programme running from July to December 2025 aimed at early- and mid-career investors already working in African venture markets. The programme is backed by FSD Africa, a development finance institution focused on building financial markets across sub-Saharan Africa, and the FMO Ventures Programme, the venture capital arm of Dutch development bank FMO.

The inaugural cohort will bring together more than 40 investment professionals, drawn initially from FSD Africa capital providers, FMO portfolio funds and Included VC's existing Africa partners, before opening to a wider applicant pool. The four-month curriculum combines technical training, practical exercises and peer learning, and is designed specifically for analysts, associates and others in early-stage investment roles who are sourcing deals and assessing opportunities in the region.

Included VC described the gap the fellowship is intended to address: "While capital flowing into African venture markets has grown over the past decade, investor capability hasn't kept pace. Many funds operate with lean teams, limited time for structured training, and uneven exposure to global best practice, which in turn shapes how deals are sourced, assessed, and supported."

The organisation also pointed to a supply-side constraint in professional development: "There is a growing pool of talented early- and mid-career professionals across the continent, but access to high-quality, context-relevant training remains scarce. As a result, much of the learning is on the job, which is difficult to scale and inconsistent across the industry."

The Africa Investor Fellowship is a separate offering from Included VC's existing Africa Fellowship, which launched in 2025 with a focus on helping new talent enter the investment ecosystem across 54 African countries over a five-year horizon. The new programme targets professionals already inside the industry rather than those seeking entry into it, and builds on Included VC's seven years of delivering investor education globally.