Investment management firm Kuramo Capital plans to lend Sh22.4 billion ($150 million) to female-led enterprises over the next decade.
The funding will be disbursed under an accelerator platform dubbed Moremi Fund, a three-pronged initiative that includes a warehousing and lending facility.
The first cohort of beneficiaries has been established and includes 40 female entrepreneurs and fund managers.
The programme is set to address the funding and knowledge gap for women in business, a roadblock it sees as a major hindrance to the inclusive, sustainable economic and social development of countries on the continent.
“We believe that, just as we are able to address gaps with African fund managers in the past, we can achieve a similarly catalytic impact with our gender lens initiative,” said Kuramo CEO and Founder Wale Adeosun.
The accelerator programme offers a structured curriculum for capacity building, technical assistance and mentoring for women in business.
Kuramo says the initiative takes off at a time when investing in Africa is gaining traction.
“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,” said Sarah Ngamau, the managing director for Moremi Fund.
Kuramo Capital Management is an independent management firm founded in 2010 and which advocates for private commercial capital in Africa.
The firm provides global investment management services to institutional clients and ultra-high-net-worth individuals focused on alternative assets in emerging and frontier markets.
