Kuramo Capital Management has announced that it is planning to invest $150 million (Ksh. 22 billion) in supporting female-led enterprises over the next 10 years. Kuramo is an investment management firm with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
This initiative will be under the Moremi Platform which seeks to empower the next generation of African women enterprises and promote gender-equitable fund management. The Moremi platform is a three-pillar initiative involving an accelerator program, a warehousing/lending facility and a Fund of funds.
The firm has unveiled the first cohort of the accelerator program, which also serves as a mentorship, capacity building and technical assistance platform, targeting 40 female entrepreneurs and fund managers annually.
According to Kuramo the program will address the huge funding and knowledge gap for women in business, a major barrier to inclusive, sustainable economic and social development of countries in Africa. This includes sharpening the skills of women fund managers who will in turn help promote the growth of women-driven enterprises.
CEO and Founder Wale Adeosun, had this to say, “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 building, technical assistance, and mentoring for women in business, addressing the knowledge gap, particularly for female fund managers in Africa.
Sarah Ngamau, Managing Director, Moremi Fund, had this to say, “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 highest rate of women involved in entrepreneurial activity, with women making up 58 per cent of Africa’s self-employed population. Building on this strong foundation, Africa requires strategies that prioritize gender-smart investment practices.
Kuramo was established in 2011 and has since mobilized over $3.5 billion (Ksh 73.8 billion) to support over 200 companies and create over 50,000 jobs in Africa.
The firm focuses on creating long-term capital value to facilitate the sustainable growth of businesses across diverse sectors of the economy. The Moremi Accelerator Program is an integral part of the firm’s vision to catalyze gender-equitable capital growth required to power Africa’s socio-economic transformation, says Shaka Kariuki, Co-CEO & Chief Investment Officer, Kuramo Capital.