Investment manager, Kuramo Capital has committed a Ksh 22 billon ($150M) financial support over the course of a decade to help grow women led businesses in Africa.
Kuramo Chief Executive Officer and Founder Wale Adeosun said the funding targets to address funding gap which women founders face, promote inclusivity and ensure sustainable economic and social development in the continent.
“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,” said Adeosun.
The funding which will be implemented through its three-pillar accelerator program, Moremi Platform also includes a warehousing/lending facility and a fund.
The firm has enrolled the first cohort for the accelerator program, which also serves as a mentorship, capacity building and technical assistance platform, targeting 40 female entrepreneurs and fund managers annually.
The accelerator program offers a structured curriculum for capacity building, technical assistance, and mentoring for women in business, addressing the knowledge gap, particularly for female fund managers in Africa.
“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,” added Sarah Ngamau, Managing Director, Moremi Fund.
Statistics indicate that women entrepreneurs make up 58pc of self employed population in sub-Saharan Africa.
The investment management firm says since 2011, it has mobilized at least Ksh 73.8 billion ($3.5B) to support over 200 companies and create over 50,000 jobs in Africa.
Kuramo he firm focuses on creating long-term capital value to facilitate the sustainable growth of businesses across diverse sectors of the economy.
