Some investors follow capital. Others follow opportunity. Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes belongs to a rare class of investors who recognised that Africa’s biggest opportunities were hidden in the very businesses the market had chosen to ignore.
Long before conversations about patient capital, gender lens investing and SME financing became mainstream, she identified a glaring disconnect in Africa’s investment ecosystem. Across Nigeria and much of the continent, thousands of ambitious entrepreneurs were building businesses with the potential to transform industries, create jobs and drive economic growth. Yet when they needed between $1 million and $3 million to scale, they found themselves trapped in what she describes as the continent’s “missing middle.”
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Banks demanded collateral that growing businesses simply did not possess. Traditional private equity firms considered them too small to justify the investment, while venture capital focused largely on technology startups. Countless businesses in manufacturing, healthcare, agriculture, consumer goods and financial services were left without the growth capital they needed to expand.
For Adesuwa, this was not simply a market inefficiency. It represented one of Africa’s greatest untapped economic opportunities. She estimated the growth equity funding gap for SMEs in Nigeria and Ghana alone at nearly $150 billion. Behind that figure were millions of unrealised jobs, businesses unable to scale, and entrepreneurs whose ambitions were constrained by a lack of funding.
Rather than wait for the market to change, she decided to build the institution that could help change it.
Today, as Founder and Managing Partner of Aruwa Capital Management, Adesuwa leads one of Africa’s leading private equity firms, managing more than $80 million across two funds and investing in businesses that many institutional investors once overlooked. What began as a $20 million debut fund has grown into an investment platform supporting 16 high growth businesses, proving that overlooked companies can become exceptional investments when backed with patient capital and strategic guidance.
Her journey to becoming one of Africa’s most respected investors began on Wall Street. Driven by a passion for finance, she started her career at Lehman Brothers at just 18 before joining J.P. Morgan, where she built expertise in mergers and acquisitions, leveraged finance and private equity. Working on major global transactions gave her a deep understanding of how capital builds businesses and transforms economies.
Despite the prestige of investment banking, she wanted her work to create a broader impact. That perspective changed while working at a private equity firm investing across Africa. An investment in a pharmaceutical company in Uganda demonstrated that it was possible to generate attractive financial returns while improving lives through local manufacturing of life saving medicines. It was her first experience of the powerful intersection between profit and purpose.
Determined to bring that philosophy to Africa, Adesuwa returned to Nigeria in 2014 to help establish an Africa focused investment fund. For five years she travelled extensively, engaging institutional investors in an effort to raise a $100 million fund. Although the fundraising effort did not succeed, it exposed her to the realities facing entrepreneurs across the continent.
Every conversation pointed to the same challenge. Exceptional businesses were being overlooked because they were considered too small for traditional private equity and too large for early stage venture capital. At the same time, she discovered another alarming trend. Despite Africa having the highest rate of female entrepreneurship in the world, less than 2 percent of investment capital reached women entrepreneurs. Even fewer women were responsible for making investment decisions, with fewer than ten female led and female managed private equity funds operating across the continent.
Those discoveries became the foundation of Aruwa Capital. In 2019, Adesuwa made one of the boldest decisions of her career. She bought out the firm she had helped build, assumed the financial risk herself and launched Aruwa Capital Management. Rather than pursuing another ambitious fundraise, she chose to start with a smaller fund, focusing on building a strong investment track record before scaling.
The strategy paid off. From its first $20 million fund, Aruwa Capital has grown to manage $80 million across two funds while investing in businesses that many investors had overlooked. The firm’s success has demonstrated that Africa’s SME sector is not too risky or too small. Instead, it represents one of the continent’s most attractive investment opportunities.
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Aruwa invests in businesses that are female led, female founded or female focused. For Adesuwa, female focused businesses include companies whose products, services or value chains primarily serve women. It is an investment philosophy built on the belief that inclusive investing delivers both commercial success and meaningful social impact.
More importantly, Aruwa offers entrepreneurs far more than capital. The firm works closely with founders to strengthen governance, improve financial management, develop leadership capacity and position businesses for sustainable growth. Adesuwa believes that successful investing is not simply about writing cheques but about building institutions that can thrive for generations.
Her story is ultimately one of conviction. Where others saw businesses that were too small, she saw extraordinary potential. Where others saw risk, she saw opportunity. Where others saw statistics, she saw entrepreneurs capable of transforming economies if only they were given access to the right capital and support.
