Private credit has become one of the fastest-growing segments of alternative finance globally, and business leaders across emerging markets are starting to take notice. According to Moody’s, assets under management in the sector are predicted to exceed $2 trillion in 2026, as businesses increasingly seek customised financing solutions that conventional bank lending is not built to provide.
Pavel Slavkov, a CEO who has tracked the shift in capital markets closely, says the scale of that growth is easy to underestimate. “Private credit has gone from a niche corner of finance to a mainstream source of capital in less than two decades,” he says. “Business owners who still think of it as an exotic option are behind the curve.”
From Niche to Mainstream
The numbers support that view. Private credit markets have expanded from roughly $250 billion in 2007 to approximately $2.5 trillion today, a tenfold increase that reflects a structural shift in how growth-stage businesses access capital. Direct lending in particular has grown rapidly as banks face tighter regulatory requirements, creating a gap that private lenders have moved quickly to fill.
For founders and business owners, the appeal is straightforward. Private credit offers debt financing without the dilution that comes with raising equity, along with a speed and flexibility that traditional bank lending often cannot match. That combination has made it an increasingly attractive option for companies that need capital to scale but are not ready, or willing, to give up ownership to get it.
What This Means For African Markets
African markets are beginning to participate in this trend, albeit from a smaller base. AHL Venture Partners recently reached a $30.5 million initial close for its Africa Credit Fund I, a vehicle designed specifically to provide debt financing to growth-stage companies across the continent. It is a modest sum set against a $2 trillion global market, but Slavkov argues the size understates its significance.
“A fund like this matters less for its scale and more for what it signals,” Pavel Slavkov says. “It tells growth-stage founders on this continent that there is a financing path between a bank loan they can’t qualify for and an equity round they don’t want to take. That path barely existed a decade ago.”
Globally, much of the capital flowing into private credit is being driven by demand well beyond traditional corporate lending. Cloud and technology providers are committing significant capital to data centres and digital infrastructure, fuelling growth in asset-backed and structured lending as that build-out accelerates. As digital infrastructure investment reaches African markets, the same dynamic is likely to shape how local lenders and borrowers approach structured finance in the years ahead.
Regulators Are Paying Closer Attention
As the asset class has expanded, it has also started to draw more scrutiny. The Bank of England launched an exploratory review of private markets in 2026, reflecting growing concern among regulators about the sector’s increasing correlation with traditional finance and the risks that correlation could pose if conditions turned.
That regulatory attention is not, in Slavkov’s view, a reason for business owners to be wary of private credit. “Every financing tool that grows this fast eventually attracts a closer look from regulators,” he says. “That’s not a red flag. It’s what happens when something moves from the margins to the mainstream, and private credit has clearly made that move.”
Weighing Speed Against Cost
Private credit is not free. It typically carries a higher cost than traditional bank lending, reflecting the flexibility and speed lenders provide in exchange. For business owners evaluating financing options, the calculation often comes down to how much that speed and flexibility is worth relative to the premium charged for it.
For companies that need capital quickly, that need terms tailored to an unusual balance sheet, or that simply cannot get a conventional loan approved in time to act on an opportunity, the premium can be easy to justify. Pavel Slavkov’s advice to founders considering the option is characteristically direct: understand exactly what you are paying for before you sign, because with private credit, unlike a standard bank facility, the terms are often genuinely negotiable.
