Kemi Ajumobi 
10 Brilliant, Bold Boss Ladies
…African executive fund raisers who live for impact and results
From East to West, to North and South, African women executives, through their organisations are leading in raising funds to help businesses thrive. As female fund managers, the joy of closing is encouraging. It means businesses can now have access to finance that will boost their trade.
In this edition, we celebrate 10 exceptional women from across Africa whose organisations have closed and the numbers as seen in this edition tells the story.
To all female fund managers and those coming up, keep doing what you know how to do best, IWA will always be here to tell the stories to inspire us all.
1. Martha Osier
Partner, Adenia Partners ($950m)
Martha Osier is a partner at Adenia Partners. She has more than 15 years’ experience as a private equity investment and banking professional in the US and Africa, covering a range of sectors, particularly in the consumer retail and healthcare industries. Martha established Adenia’s East Africa office in Nairobi, Kenya, where her responsibilities include sourcing and screening investment opportunities, negotiating and executing deals, and providing ongoing advice to investees.
Martha developed her investment skills at RFE Investment Partners, a lower middle-market buyout firm based in New Canaan, Connecticut. She began her career as an analyst in the Leverage Finance portfolio group at Citigroup in New York. Martha previously worked with both General Electric and Catalyst Principal Partners in East Africa.
Martha is a two-time winner of the East Africa Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (EAVCA) Awards’ Woman Investor Award. She also received EAVCA’s East Africa Leadership Award in 2021. She was also featured on Private Equity International’s Future40 list, which recognises individuals under 40 who are expected to play a leading role in shaping the future of Private Equity.
Martha sits on the Board of Directors of four Adenia portfolio companies: Quick Mart, Africa Biosystems Limited (ABL), Red Lands Roses and Proximed. She is also a director at hair company Harvest of Sunshine and MICO Bright Star Primary School.
She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Economics and International Affairs from Lafayette College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Adenia has successfully raised US $950 million across 5 funds. They have a proven track record of strong and consistent performance with 30+ platform investments executed and 20 realised exits. Based on the ground across Africa, Adenia has one of the most highly qualified African private markets investment teams in terms of educational pedigree, longstanding experience as entrepreneurs and investors, and local in-depth knowledge. By creating stronger companies with quality jobs, fostering economic improvement, and elevating companies to meet ESG standards, Adenia is increasing the enterprise value for investors, while benefiting workers, communities, and companies in Africa.
Adenia Partners recently reached the US$180 million hard cap oversubscribed at the first close of its Adenia Entrepreneurial Fund I (AEF), surpassing the original target in under a year and bringing the total capital raised by the firm to over $1bn. The first in a new line of funds, AEF will focus on control investments in small and lower mid-cap African businesses – a dynamic but undercapitalised part of the market. The fund has already completed its first investment in Maymana, a female-founded Moroccan culinary brand, highlighting AEF’s focus on businesses with strong local roots and clear potential for expansion. “We are excited to further extend our coverage across the continent, backing the next generation of African champions while creating quality jobs and driving sustainable growth.” Martha said.
2. Sindisiwe Mabaso-Koyana
Chairperson, AWCA Investment Holdings (R554m)
Sindisiwe Mabaso-Koyana is a Chartered Accountant by training, Sindi Mabaso-Koyana, holds an Honorary Doctorate from Middlesex University. She is an investor, corporate leader and champion of transformation who is held in high regard both in South Africa & internationally. She is the Chairperson of AIH (AWCA Investment Holdings), a women owned and managed investment company and Managing Partner of AIH CAPITAL, which closed R554m fund.
She is passionate about the empowerment of women, and has used her role as a champion of transformation to promote the careers of many women who now belong in SA’s executive ranks. Sindi has enjoyed an illustrious career and has worked in both the private and public sectors. After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant Sindi established herself as a thought leader in the areas of financial and risk management and corporate governance. She has enormous board experience both in the private and public sector where she usually chairs the Audit and Risk Committee and Remuneration Committees. Sindi is highly sought after as a speaker on leadership, Africa’s economic transformation and the role of women in business.
She has addressed audiences in South Africa and internationally. She is well known for her role as a champion for the advancement of women in finance. She played a key role in founding AWCA (African Women Chartered Accountants). Within AWCA she has played a vital role to bring the chartered accounting profession to young women from previously disadvantaged communities. For AWCA’s long term financial sustainability, and to drive financial inclusivity in the economy, she established AWCA Investment Holdings (AIH) which she Chairs. AIH has built a formidable portfolio and has since launched a Private Equity firm to continue investments in the Financial, Industrial, Technology, Food and Services Sectors.
3. Mohau Polo Leteka
Founder and CEO at IDF Capital & Partner, ALITHEA IDF ($100m)
Mohau Polo Leteka is a highly accomplished and experienced entrepreneur and private equity investor. She is the CEO and Founder of IDF Captial – a South African based entrepreneurial financier and advisory firm. Through IDF Capital, Mohau has contributed towards channeling investments into women owned SMEs across South Africa. In 2015, she co-founded AlitheiaIDF to continue investing in high growth businesses across Sub-Saharan Africa that are women owned and led and the company has closed $100m fund.
Mohau is an accountant by training, and has varied experience in both the Public and Private sectors of South Africa which includes accounting and auditing, corporate finance, investment banking, public policy formulation, venture capital and private equity. At a fairly young age, Mohau was tasked with leading the process of developing South Africa’s first ever Codes of Good Practice on Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment which is a Government policy seeking to transform the South African economic landscape to be more reflective of its population demographics.
As a result of this ground breaking work which has changed how Corporate South Africa interacts with the rest of the economy, she is considered a thought leader in areas of economic transformation and development.
Mohau is a an accomplished public speaker, contributor to thought leadership articles on transformation and entrepreneurship. She was also part of South Africa’s version of the Dragons Den show and is also a co-Author of a book called “…..and for all these reasons, I’M IN…..”, which seeks to assist entrepreneurs to become investor ready.
4. Genevieve Sangudi
Partner at Alterra Capital Partners ($140m)
Genevieve Sangudi is a Partner at Alterra Capital Partners and they recently closed $140m fund. Alterra Capital Partners is an Africa-focused private equity firm that partners with exceptional entrepreneurs and management teams to grow their businesses. Alterra targets domestic-facing companies that serve basic consumer and vital business needs. The Alterra Capital Partners team has over 100+ years of combined private equity experience and invested more than $2 billion of capital into 23 companies across Africa. The Alterra team has lived and worked on the continent for decades and leverages its substantial experience and deep networks to drive the growth of its investments.
Alterra Capital Partners was formed through the combination of individuals from two of the most experienced managers on the continent, Carlyle Africa and Emerging Capital Partners. The combination was driven by the respective team’s longstanding working relationship, complementary investment strategies, geographic footprints, and shared vision.
Genevieve is an emerging markets private equity investment executive with over 20 years of leadership experience in finance and operations. She has led and managed investments in over 40 countries across numerous sectors including healthcare, agribusiness, logistics, telecoms, oil & gas, consumer & retail and financial services. She is also an experienced Board Director having served on the boards of over 15 public and private companies throughout her career. She received an MBA from Columbia Business School, a Master’s degree in International Affairs from Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs and a BA from Macalester College.
5. Lise Birikundavyi, CFA
Co-founder and managing partner, BKR Capital ($18.5m)
Lise Birikundavyi is the co-founder and managing partner, BKR Capital, the first institutional, black-led VC fund in Canada. BKR Capital was built with the objective of investing in promising Black founders in the technology space. They make early and transformational investments in disruptive companies often answering unmet needs of minority communities. They have closed $18.5m fund. They are intentional about their investment strategy and look to partner only where they can add value, with hard-working and visionary entrepreneurs.
Lise is an innovative finance specialist who has worked with several international institutions and acts as guest lecturer for prestigious organisations, including Oxford University and the International Olympic Committee Accelerator managed by the Yunus Sports Hub. Lise also mentors and supports highly promising and impactful start-ups in emerging markets.
She began her career in the hedge fund industry in Montreal and her interest in mixing attractive financial returns with long term societal impact is what inspired her to transition to the impact finance sector, a space in which she worked for a decade. She has experience across the investment spectrum: from funds of funds and VCs, to being the transition CEO of a tech start-up.
Lise is a CFA charterholder; she also holds a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from the Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance/ Shanghai JiaoTong University, where she wrote her thesis on impact investing, and a trilingual BBA from HEC Montreal. Lise is fluent in French, English and Spanish, and has a conversational level of Mandarin.
She is a firm believer in using the forces of capital markets as a basis for more inclusive wealth creation and sustainable poverty alleviation.
6. Shirley Somuah
Partner at CardinalStone Capital Advisers ($64m)
Shirley Somuah is a Partner at CardinalStone Capital Advisers (CCA). CCA is a Nigeria based private equity investment manager, with a focus on control or significant minority growth capital investments. CCA leverages a combination of deep local expertise and broad global networks in positioning each of its portfolio companies to deliver superior returns. CCA takes a hands-on approach to its investments, which has been shaped by the local business environment; and the team has a track record of working with high potential entrepreneurs to scale their businesses. The CCA team draws on backgrounds in investment banking, strategy consulting and supply chain management to partner with management teams in developing their businesses into sector champions. They have closed $64m fund.
Shirley is a Partner on the investment team at CCA, where she focuses on the breadth of the investment and value addition cycle. She has over a decade of experience across management consulting and investing. Prior to CCA, Shirley was a Vice President on the Principal Investments team at CardinalStone Partners, and a management consultant with Oliver Wyman in New York and Dubai. Shirley holds an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a BSc. in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University.
7. Berhane Demissie
Co-Founder/Managing Partner at Cepheus Growth Capital ($75m)
Berhane Demissie is Co-Founder/Managing Partner at Cepheus Growth Capital, and they recently closed $75m fund. Cepheus Growth Capital’s mission is to provide much-needed growth capital to Ethiopian SMEs while delivering attractive risk-adjusted returns and strong developmental impacts. They establish close strategic, financial, and operational partnerships with portfolio companies to unlock value and realise their maximum growth potential—while addressing the critical long-term financing needs of the Ethiopian economy. Berhane Demissie is responsible for the overall management of the Fund in Ethiopia. Her role includes deal sourcing, execution, portfolio management, investor and market relations and exit management.
Demissie serves as a member of Cepheus’ Investment Committee and has over 10 years of Private Equity experience in Ethiopia. Prior to founding Cepheus, she served as a Senior Consultant to the Public Financial Enterprises Agency in Addis Ababa for five years engaged in the Government’s reform programme of the public financial institutions. She also worked for Citigroup in London as a member of their Corporate and then Portfolio Risk Management groups. Demissie holds BSc (hon.) from Greenwich University, Higher Diploma (DIC) and an MBA from Imperial College in London.
8. Kim Kamarebe
Managing Director, Inua Capital ($8m)
Kim Kamarebe is the Managing Director/Founding Partner, Inua Capital. Inua Capital is a gender-lens impact fund investing in high-potential SMEs and dynamic entrepreneurs across all sectors in Uganda. Inua invests in growing SMEs with excellent strategic growth potential, and partners with management teams to unlock these SMEs’ value and drive their growth.
Inua’s investment approach is highly technical and highly commercial, and their team has an exceptionally successful investing track record. Their core strength is their hands-on approach: Inua Capital is resident in Uganda. They are local and on-the-ground, and work alongside their entrepreneurs. The recently closed $8m fund.
As founding partner, Kim is responsible for all firm activities. Also, Kim is the Chief Investment Officer of Inua-managed funds, and has oversight responsibility for the investment process, from investment sourcing and deal execution, through adding value to and managing portfolio companies, to exit.
Since the Inua’s founding, Kim has served on numerous Inua portfolio company boards. In addition, Kim serves as an independent board director on the boards of Stanbic Bank Uganda and aBi Finance, and as the independent chairperson of the FSDU Deal Flow Facility technical advisory board.
She has worked in the African private equity industry for over 15 years, during which she has led the investment activities at Damascus Capital, AgDevCo Uganda, TLG Capital (East Africa) and Inua Capital. Prior to private equity investing, Kim started her career as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs in New York and in London.
Kim is a champion for entrepreneurial activity and sustainable economic growth in Uganda. Kim founded and patrons the Driven2Change Foundation, an active philanthropic organization focused on education and entrepreneurship. She has lived and worked in the US, Europe and Africa, and has an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a BSc in Operations Research and Financial Engineering from Princeton University.
Inua Capital is part of a pan-African network of SME investment vehicles supported by I&P: Teranga Capital in Senegal, Sinergi in Niger, Sinergi Burkina in Burkina Faso, Comoé Capital in Côte d’Ivoire, Zira Capital in Mali and Miarakap in Madagascar.
9. Karima Ola
Partner at LeapFrog Investments ($2.8bn)
Karima Ola is a Partner at LeapFrog Investments and they recently closed $2.8bn fund. Karima joined LeapFrog in 2016. Karima leads LeapFrog’s African Financial Services investment team, where she has driven landmark investments including into ARM Pensions, one of the largest pension providers in Nigeria, and AIICO, one of the largest insurers in Nigeria. A deeply experienced operator and investor, she has significant experience working across the continent. She serves on the Investment Committee of LeapFrog’s flagship fund and is a member of the Management Board.
Karima is widely recognised for her work shaping the investment landscape in Africa and was named one of “Africa’s women to watch” by Bloomberg.
Previously, Karima was chief investment officer and a member of the board at ADC African Development Corporation, where she initiated the company’s entry into Nigeria and ran a number of multimillion-dollar transactions. Prior to this, she was a Managing Partner at Chayton Capital LLP, where she led the creation of the company’s first Africa Agriculture fund. Earlier, Karima was Executive Director, Global Equities, at HSBC in a role that spanned the UK, Hong Kong and South Africa.
Ola is a Member of UK Institute of Directors and holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and a postgraduate diploma in Economics from the University of London. She sits on the Sustainability Committee of Africa Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (AVCA).
LeapFrog invests in exceptional businesses in Asia and Africa to enable leaps of growth, profitability and impact. The group’s portfolio of companies reaches 559 million people with financial services, healthcare and climate solutions, across more than 37 countries. 403 million of those people are emerging consumers; many of whom are accessing formal insurance, savings, pensions, credit, remittances or healthcare for the first time.
LeapFrog, which has had close to $3 billion of capital committed, brings a track record of more than a decade as a trusted General Partner to investors in private markets. LeapFrog Investments invests $20-75 million for majority or influential minority stakes in growing companies that have exceptional management teams and are focused on providing services that address the needs of emerging consumers. LeapFrog companies have grown on average by 22% per year since investment, and the group is now backed by many of the world’s leading institutional investors.
They have twice been named by Fortune as one of the top Companies to Change the World, in 2017, this was alongside Apple and Novartis, becoming the first private investment group ever listed.
LeapFrog is a founding Investors Council Member of the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) and is a funder and member of the advisory group of The Impact Management Project.
10. Andreata Muforo
Partner at TLcom Capital ($300m+)
Andreata Muforo is a Partner at TLcom Capital, based in Nairobi. TLcom Capital partners with entrepreneurs by mobilising their resources – capital, expertise, networks – to increase the odds of success in the pursuit of major economic upside. TLcom has managed in excess of $300m and is currently investing from its TIDE Africa Fund, which invests in early to growth stage companies in sub-Saharan Africa.
Andreata represents the firm on the boards of Ajua, SeamlessHR, uLesson and Honeycoin. She also oversees TLcom’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and impact measurement activities and co-leads the firm’s annual Africa Tech Female Founder Summit.
Before TLcom, Andreata worked at Horizon Africa Capital in Kenya and the African Development Bank in Tunisia. In these roles, she gained extensive experience in transaction structuring and corporate finance advisory, collaborating with entrepreneurs and CEOs on M&A and capital-raising mandates for companies and investment funds across Africa. She began her career in economic consulting at National Economic Research Associates (NERA) in New York City.
Andreata is a board member at the Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies (SEED) and serves as an Endeavor Mentor in Kenya.
She holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Grinnell College in Iowa, USA.