Market Systems, Capital & Development Africa

From Capital Gap to Asset Financing: Reframing the SME Debate

In this inaugural episode of MSCD Africa, we interrogate the dominant “capital gap” narrative surrounding African SMEs. Is the real problem truly a shortage of capital — or is it structural? We examine: * Why capital exists but does not flow * The mispricing of risk in SME asset financing * Monitoring lag and enforcement friction * Why asset-backed lending fails in informal market environments * What must change in how we design SME finance This episode reframes the debate from capital scarcity to risk architecture and institutional design. MSCD Africa focuses on diagnosing structural economic problems before prescribing solutions.

Episode 0: Why Market Systems, Capital & Development Africa

This is a short introduction to Market Systems, Capital & Development Africa. I talk about why I started this podcast, what kinds of conversations we’ll be having, and who this is for. The goal is simple: to understand how markets actually work in Africa, how capital really moves, and why many development and investment efforts succeed, stall, or fail.