Tokunboh Ishmael

Tokunboh is co-founder and managing director of Alitheia Capital, a Nigeria based investment management and advisory firm focused on channelling private equity investments into businesses to enhance access to finance, energy and housing for small and growing businesses, and low-income households. Alitheia Capital is the manager of a financial inclusion fund in Nigeria. ‘Tokunboh has over 20 years’ experience spanning investment banking, private equity investing, technology and new business development in the USA, Europe and Africa. As an investment banker, she advised on mergers and acquisition mandates valuing over US$5 billion across the financial, health, oil, gas, technology and media sectors. She has advised on the development of financial markets for the unbanked and under-banked at the federal and state levels in Nigeria’s public and private sectors.
 
Tokunboh is a CFA Charter holder, an Alumnus of the London Business School, and a Yale World Fellow. She currently sits on a number of boards including First City Monument Bank (a commercial bank in Nigeria), Pagatech (Nigeria’s leading mobile payments company) and the African Venture Capital Association (AVCA.) Her previous roles include Country Partner for Nigeria at Aureos Capital (now Abraaj) where she successfully raised capital to complete the first Aureos West Africa Fund, and sourced private equity investments; Fund Manager of a technology focused venture capital fund (Sussex Place Ventures) where she incubated new ventures, and commercialized technological innovations. Other previous roles include M&A banker at Salomon Smith Barney and Managing Director of Avante Capital Ltd where she advised on a number of acquisitions in the oil and gas sector including the acquisition and financing of a government owned refinery, and led the first secondary listing of a Nigerian company on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.