Obinna Chima
Alitheia Capital Limited said it has activated digital accounts for over six million mobile payments users in the country through financial technology investments.
The Lagos-based firm also disclosed that it has provided access to finance for over 7 million clients via investments in microfinance intermediaries, as well as enabled access to clean energy for over one million households through partnerships and investments between energy and financial intermediaries.
The Managing Director and co-founder of Alitheia Capital, Tokunboh Ishmael, revealed this in an article titled: “Women in Business: Doing well by doing good,†to mark the company’s 10th year in operation. Jumoke Akinwunmi is also a co-founder of the Nigerian-based investment firm that channels private equity investments to transform businesses in Africa.
In addition, she revealed that in the past 10 year, the firm has facilitated investment in excess of $10 million into affordable, sustainable and safe school buildings for over 12,000 children in rural communities by deploying a simple manually-installed building components system.
“From the onset, we wanted to setup a fund management firm that is first, managed, owned by and geared towards women; and second, we had a mutual vision and passion to extend access to home ownership and finance for households and small businesses with low income in Nigeria, many of whom are women.
“The problems we encountered daily in Lagos troubled us. There was the problem of access to finance and financial services for small businesses; problems of indoor air pollution and related infant mortality due to a lack of access to clean energy in low-income households; problems of poor infrastructure in schools in remote areas of Nigeria due to lack of affordable and sustainable construction methodologies.
“Although between us, we had achieved success in our specialist areas of finance, technology and real estate development, we felt that there was more we could do to benefit more people – financial access for the unbanked and entrepreneurs through investments in financial intermediaries and financial technology (now popularly known as FinTech),†she explained.
According to Ishmael, access to clean energy through the development of innovative working capital and energy financing products should be a reality for everyone.
Furthermore, she pointed out that Alitheia was the first African investor to proactively seek to influence the role of women at senior levels in the African economy and beyond by funding female founders and co-founder’s who are building scalable businesses with regional expansion and export potential in Africa.
“There are sufficient statistics that show that women owned/led businesses produce better financial and non-financial outcomes for all stakeholders.
“This brings us full circle to Alitheia’s raison d’être – empowering women to reach their full potential, a quest upon which me and my partners embarked on for ourselves.
“It has been an empowering journey so far, here’s to the decades ahead in the company of more woman in management roles and creating global companies,†she added in the report.
