Family offices are more than investment vehicles, they are a new investor class and trusted partners to governments, DFIs, and philanthropies. They deploy patient, blended, long-term capital, preserving family prosperity while channeling it toward public good.
Family offices extend the duration of wealth, while also lengthening the period over which that wealth can be directed to schools, jobs, and community well-being.
Barry E.A. Johnson
Founder & Chairman
When Africa’s wealth is stewarded through well-governed family offices, it can fuel entrepreneurship, innovation, and sustainable development for generations. Yet, today, much of Africa’s capital remains fragmented, flowing abroad, underutilized. When wealth is disjointed, there is not just lost opportunity for economic growth and expansion, there is also clear economic contraction and decline.
I founded the 7 Generations Institute to facilitate trust-based connections, providing data-driven insight, and equipping African family offices to deploy their capital for long-term public good. By mobilizing both financial and non-financial resources, and connecting African family offices to peers, global capital networks, and enabling policies, we can unlock catalytic capital flows that deliver inclusive growth and generational impact.
Barry Johnson is the Founder and Chairman of 7 Generations Institute, a non-profit initiative created to lead the first movement across Africa whose mission is to advance awareness, capacity, policy, and demand to increase the number of well-governed family offices and empower them to become catalysts for sustainable development, intergenerational prosperity, and transformative impact.
A Yale and Harvard graduate, Barry has advised billionaires, policymakers, and mission-driven enterprises, with experience spanning Wall Street, the White House, and Fortune 500 firms. He served as Founding Executive Director of SelectUSA under President Obama and has led global investment strategies to strengthen economic resilience.
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Africa faces a $200B annual financing gap. While development finance institutions, and governments, play vital roles, families bring something unique: cultural fluency, patient capital, and trusted long-term commitment.
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