Kuramo Capital Management, an investment firm specializing in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), is set to allocate $150 million towards advancing enterprises led by African women through its Moremi Platform. This 10-year initiative aims to empower the next generation of female entrepreneurs in Africa and promote gender-inclusive fund management.
The Moremi Platform comprises three key components: an accelerator program, a warehousing/lending facility, and a Fund of Funds. The first phase, the accelerator program, has been unveiled and serves as a mentorship, capacity-building, and technical support hub, focusing on nurturing 40 female entrepreneurs and fund managers each year.
According to Wale Adeosun, CEO and Founder of Kuramo, this initiative addresses the considerable financial and knowledge disparities faced by women in business, a significant hurdle to achieving comprehensive, sustainable economic and social progress in African nations. It also emphasizes the development of women fund managers to foster the growth of women-led businesses.
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Adeosun explains, “We believe that, just as we were able to address gaps with African GPs (fund managers) in the past, we can achieve a similarly catalytic impact with our gender lens initiative.”
The accelerator program offers a structured curriculum for capacity enhancement, technical assistance, and mentorship for women in business, especially female fund managers in Africa.
Sarah Ngamau, Managing Director of Moremi Fund, states, “The Accelerator Program is being launched at such a critical time in Africa’s investing story and we are excited by the traction. Despite an increased flow of capital to Africa, women have still been underrepresented at all levels of the investment landscape. Our goal is to address this barrier and improve the ecosystem by supporting female-led African private equity and venture capital funds.”
The World Economic Forum has identified Sub-Saharan Africa as having the world’s highest rate of women involved in entrepreneurial activity, with women making up 58 percent of Africa’s self-employed population. To build on this foundation, Africa needs strategies that prioritize gender-smart investment practices.
Sarah emphasizes, “At Kuramo Capital and Kuramo Foundation for Sustainable Development, we firmly believe that the fastest way to unlock capital for female entrepreneurs and gender-smart businesses at scale is to invest in female-led and gender-diverse fund managers. We are delighted to promote inclusive economic empowerment of female-led funds in Pan-Africa.”
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Kuramo, founded in 2011, has already mobilized over $3.5 billion (Ksh 73.8 billion) to support more than 200 companies, generating over 50,000 jobs in Africa. The company is committed to creating lasting capital value and promoting the sustainable growth of businesses across various sectors of the economy. The Moremi Accelerator Program is an essential part of their vision to drive gender-equitable capital growth, crucial for powering Africa’s socio-economic transformation.
Shaka Kariuki, Co-CEO & Chief Investment Officer of Kuramo Capital, sees the accelerator program as a significant contribution to positioning Africa as an attractive investment destination. Before Kuramo’s entry into Africa, there were very few investors channeling capital to African fund managers on the continent.
“However, since Kuramo’s arrival, we have been able to anchor and fund more than 15 funds across Sub-Saharan Africa, which has helped mitigate some of the concerns associated with investing on the continent. With the Moremi Accelerator Program, we will be addressing challenges facing African female entrepreneurs and fund managers stemming from such perceptions.”
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the con