London Stock Exchange Market Opening with AT50

BlackWood was delighted to be invited to open the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday 28th January 2026 as part of the launch event for the Africa Tech Index (AT50) by Indexa Exchange Group. Our very own Investment Committee Member Abbas Kazmi represented us at the historic event, ringing the opening bell and signing the welcome book to commemorate the occasion, and hosted several of our UK portfolio companies building in Africa. These included Prospa with its CEO Frederik Obasi joining.

The index is a curated benchmark of Africa’s 50 most investable, listing-ready technology companies. Widely-recognized African unicorns such as Flutterwave, Moniepoint, and TymeBank, will make up the AT50, mirroring Europe’s EURO STOXX 50, a benchmark for the region’s strongest blue-chip entities, and the S&P 500’s listing of 500 of America’s largest companies. 

Abbas commented, “The launch of the AT50 marks a defining moment for Africa’s technology ecosystem. For founders, it provides important visibility and validation, signalling readiness for institutional capital and public markets. For investors, it offers a structured gateway into one of the most dynamic tech markets in the world. What has been missing on the continent for a long time is a clear, investable benchmark that allows global capital to understand and track Africa’s highest-quality growth companies. The AT50 provides that clarity, bringing discipline, transparency and international visibility to a market that has long been underestimated. We are proud to be invited to open the London Stock Exchange to celebrate this exciting milestone and to meet and stand alongside many of the key figures shaping Africa’s digital future. We hope to see several of our portfolio companies scale to become part of the AT50 in the future!” 

The AT50 is a quarterly, rules-based benchmark designed to strengthen private-to-public readiness signals for Africa’s most scaled private technology companies. Over the past decade, many African technology companies have scaled to significant revenue, transaction volume, and regional reach, largely in private markets. The  AT50 exists to provide public markets and long-term institutional capital consistent reference points to assess governance maturity, liquidity visibility, and readiness for credible listing pathways.

The event convened senior leaders from across exchanges, global banking, asset management, and market infrastructure, alongside founders and senior executives from AT50 companies. The opening ceremony was followed by networking sessions and panels examining private securities markets, exits and liquidity, governance and disclosure expectations, and public markets as a growth platform for scaled technology companies.

Gbite Oduneye, Chair of the Africa Tech Index, said: "Africa has produced scaled private technology companies with real revenues and resilience, but public markets and long-term capital have lacked consistent reference points to assess readiness. AT50 exists to close that gap through a rules-based benchmark built for institutional comparability and market trust."

Abi Ajayi, Primary Markets Head - Africa & Middle East, London Stock Exchange, said: "Trusted markets are built on transparency, governance, and comparable standards. We are pleased to host the launch of AT50 at the London Stock Exchange as part of a broader conversation on private-to-public pathways and the market infrastructure required to support them."

Picture: Frederik Obasi, CEO @ Prospa & Abbas Kazmi, IC member @ Blackwood.