Gender-lens investing across African growth businesses
An investment firm running gender-lens strategies that prioritise backing women-led and women-serving businesses across African markets.
Use when
You are a growth-stage business that meets gender-lens criteria and can withstand institutional diligence.
Skip when
You are a venture-stage technology startup. This is growth-stage private equity, and the gender-lens mandate is a binding screen rather than a stated preference.
Status (24 Sep 2026): investing through Alitheia IDF, which closed at US$100 million and is the largest gender-lens private equity fund in Africa, with the EIB joining at final close with US$24.6 million. Led by Tokunboh Ishmael and Polo Leteka, it backs growth-stage companies across Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Zambia, with an explicit mandate to close the funding gap between male and female entrepreneurs. Per-company cheque sizes are not published.
Alternatives
