The Liquidity Architecture: How African GPs Actually Turn Marks into Cash
Gated LumiBrief Edition
Liquidity is not a windfall.
It is the outcome of structure, incentives, negotiation, and timing.
This edition moves past the free essay’s framing and into operational detail: the fund provisions, PortCo mechanics, leverage points, and political realities that determine whether an African GP returns cash or accumulates “theoretical” DPI.
Before we get into mechanisms, we need to set the frame.
African VC funds routinely hold companies 2–3× longer than US peers.
Marks rise, but cash stays trapped.
LPs remain patient — until they don’t.
And when LPs reassess allocation priorities, liquidity becomes the only signal that matters.
Most African GPs know the tools (secondaries, structured exits, partial sell-downs).
Few apply them consistently.
Fewer still embed them into fund architecture from day one.
Liquidity outcomes depend on structure, leverage, and incentives.
This is the pivot point.
Everything below the paywall is the “how.”
★ PAID SECTION — CONTINUE BELOW
The next section begins the actual playbook: the clauses, rights, structures, leverage points, cost thresholds, founder-GP dynamics, and case-study friction that determine whether liquidity is engineered or accidental in African and frontier markets.
If you want the real mechanics, continue reading.