As the global community celebrates International Women’s Day 2026 under the evocative theme “Give to Gain,” few leaders embody this principle as effectively as Tokunboh Ishmael. As the Managing Director and CEO of Alitheia Capital, Ishmael has spent years proving that the most sustainable gains in the private equity space come from “investing” capital to underserved, high-potential female entrepreneurs. In a wide-ranging interview with BusinessDay, Ishmael reflects on the company’s milestone achievements and how gender-lens investing has evolved from a niche strategy into a primary driver of African economic growth, among others.Excerpts:
Kindly tell us more about Alitheia Capital?
Alitheia Capital is an impact-focused private equity firm in Nigeria with nearly two decades of operating experience. The firm was founded by Tokunboh Ishmael and Jumoke Akinwunmi, two female leaders committed to using capital as a tool to drive inclusive growth and sustainable development across Africa.
For over 18 years, Alitheia has invested in businesses that deliver strong financial returns alongside measurable social impact. The firm is particularly recognized for its leadership in gender-lens investing, supporting companies that expand economic opportunities for women as entrepreneurs, employees, and consumers across value chains.
Alitheia Capital currently manages three active funds, including the Alitheia IDF Fund—its flagship gender-lens investing fund—and the uMunthu family of funds, which focus on expanding access to essential services such as finance. The firm has also previously managed clean energy funds that have since been fully deployed and exited.
Across its funds, Alitheia has invested in more than 20 portfolio companies spanning sectors such as manufacturing, agribusiness, healthcare, fintech, and technology-enabled services. Notable portfolio companies include Paga, ReelFruit, Psaltry International, Tomato Jos, Seamfix, OmniRetail, Haul247, MAX, Alma Clinics, SKLD Integrated Services, Complete Farmer, and Hinckley Recycling, among others.
Beyond providing capital, Alitheia works closely with its portfolio companies to accelerate growth, strengthen governance, and scale sustainably while creating jobs and expanding economic opportunities across the markets they serve.
How has the industry been in the last three years in view of the new policies the federal government implemented?
Nigeria remains one of the key markets in which Alitheia Capital invests. In recent years, the Federal Government of Nigeria under the Tinubu administration has implemented a series of structural economic reforms aimed at strengthening macroeconomic stability, expanding non-oil exports, improving infrastructure development, and accelerating digitalization.
Some of the most notable reforms include:
– Removal of the fuel subsidy, which initially created inflationary pressures but improved the government’s fiscal position and reduced distortions in the petroleum market.
– Foreign exchange market reforms, which unified the exchange rate system, improved transparency in the FX market, cleared FX backlogs, and recapitalized Bureau de Change operators.
– Fiscal reforms designed to simplify the tax system and create incentives that support the growth of small businesses while improving compliance among larger corporations.
– Industrial and economic development policies aimed at strengthening domestic production and value chains, particularly through increased local processing and value addition within the agricultural sector.
While several of these reforms are beginning to yield positive outcomes, some policies—such as the removal of tariffs on certain products—have created challenges for local manufacturers by increasing competition from imports. Despite these pressures, many of Alitheia’s portfolio companies have remained resilient, leveraging export-led growth strategies and developing innovative products and market channels to sustain and expand their operations.
At the same time, Nigeria is making progress in advancing inclusive finance. The Gender Equity and Social Inclusion (GESI) Roadmap 2025–2035, which Alitheia Capital helped develop, aims to mobilize up to $8 billion in inclusive capital and expand gender-responsive financial products. This initiative has the potential to unlock financing for millions of underserved small and growing businesses while supporting job creation and broader economic participation.
Across the continent, the private equity and venture capital ecosystem is also undergoing an important structural shift. There is increasing emphasis on Gender Lens Investing (GLI) and deeper integration of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations into investment decisions. According to a 2026 report by the African Private Capital Association, nearly 39% of venture capital firms and 33% of private equity firms in Africa now have gender-balanced senior management teams—roughly double the average observed in developed markets. Women also represent 44% of the industry workforce, 38% of investment professionals, and 33% of investment committee members.
These trends reflect both a growing recognition that diversity improves investment outcomes and deliberate efforts by investors and policymakers to promote more inclusive capital allocation. Alitheia Capital is proud to have played a pioneering role in advancing gender lens investing and inclusive, sustainable finance across Africa.
However, significant gaps remain. Only about 5–7% of private capital-backed companies in Africa are female-founded, and roughly 11–12% are led by female CEOs. This persistent imbalance highlights a major mispriced opportunity for investors. Unlocking capital for high-potential women entrepreneurs can drive inclusive economic growth while creating attractive long-term investment returns across Africa’s evolving private capital landscape.
Your product, Women in Manufacturing, Agribusiness & Nutrition (WOMAN), is meant to be a unique product in the industry. What has it achieved thus far? What are the challenges it faced and how were they addressed?
The W.O.M.A.N. (Women in Manufacturing, Agribusiness & Nutrition) platform by Alitheia Capital is designed to support and scale investment-ready, climate-smart women-led MSMEs across key sectors. Since its launch, the platform has helped participating businesses move beyond being merely “gender aware” to becoming “gender strategic,” by embedding intentional equity and inclusion policies directly into their operations and long-term growth strategies. In addition, several participating companies have taken measurable steps toward sustainability and climate-conscious operations; for example, ReelFruit has transitioned to CNG-powered factory operations, strengthening energy efficiency and reducing emissions. The company has also scaled its processing capacity to 20 MT per day, launched six new products, and achieved 100% output growth through women-centered work shifts, while Psaltry International has implemented solar technology to enhance energy efficiency and environmental sustainability. By Q4 2025, daily solar power supply averaged 18 hours, driving a production surge to 680 MT for the quarter significantly higher than Q4 the year before with total output increasing 29% YoY.
Like many initiatives aimed at closing systemic gaps, the programme also addresses persistent challenges, particularly the financing gap faced by women-led businesses and the “groupthink” that can sometimes shape traditional capital allocation decisions. To tackle this, Alitheia developed a proprietary Gender Lens Investing toolkit and Gender Spectrum assessment framework, which helps rigorously evaluate and strengthen the “gender smartness” of participating businesses. Through this approach, the platform goes beyond simply providing capital by offering strategic guidance, operational support, and policy development that enable these businesses to grow sustainably and become more competitive in the market.
What does the International Women’s Day mean to your organization and for how long has your firm participated in its celebration?
At Alitheia Capital, International Women’s Day is an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment within our organization. This year’s theme, “Give to Gain,” strongly resonates with us but in a different way as we are more about investing in women, reflecting our belief that when organizations intentionally invest in women through opportunities, mentorship, and inclusive leadership, and even capital, the result is stronger institutions, greater innovation, and shared growth.
For us, International Women’s Day is both a celebration and a call to action. Over the years, we have marked the day not only through conversations but through tangible initiatives that support women entrepreneurs and leaders across our ecosystem. These include expanding access to capital through our gender lens investing strategy, supporting women-led businesses across our portfolio, and launching platforms such as the W.O.M.A.N. (Women in Manufacturing, Agribusiness & Nutrition) programme, which helps women-led MSMEs strengthen their investment readiness, scale sustainably, and access growth opportunities. Through our funds and partnerships, we continue to work with founders, investors, and ecosystem partners to close financing gaps and create pathways for more women to build and grow successful businesses.
Which of the past IWD’s celebrations has made the most impact on you and your organization? Kindly explain how
The most impactful celebrations are those that move from “representation to reimagination”. Specifically, years where the focus shifted toward intentionality have been critical. For us, seeing the data validate our thesis, such as the fact that female-led firms in our region reported 32% revenue growth compared to 14% for male-led peers, has turned IWD from a day of awareness into a day of commercial validation for gender-smart investing.
It proves that when you back women, you aren’t just supporting a cause; you are investing in superior governance, tighter operational discipline, and more resilient business models.
A significant part of this impact is driven by our commitment to building the capacity required to sustain this growth. Central to this is Nzinga, our specialized learning and digital capacity-building platform built by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. Nzinga serves as a digital bridge, providing African entrepreneurs with the real-world tools, expert guidance, investment readiness training, and a supportive community they need to grow and scale their business, leadership and impact. The Nzinga toolkit was developed to address the practical challenges of starting, managing, and growing a business in Africa.
The platform’s success is already evident, with almost 300 sign-ups from entrepreneurs eager to institutionalize and grow their businesses. By integrating Nzinga into our IWD narrative, we move beyond just celebrating success to actively manufacturing it. These celebrations remind us that our impact is doubled when we pair catalytic capital with the continuous learning provided by Nzinga, ensuring that the women we back are not just participating in the economy, but leading its transformation.
What unique programmes does your organization have for female employees and what impact have those programmes made?
At Alitheia Capital, we take an intentional and structured approach to building an inclusive and high-performing workplace. This commitment is reflected in our workforce composition, where women represent 50% of employees and 50% of leadership, reinforcing gender-balanced decision-making across the firm.
Our initiatives focus on leadership development, mentorship, and employee wellbeing, while promoting diversity and inclusion throughout the organization. We are deliberate about creating pathways that increase the representation and influence of women in leadership roles, ensuring female professionals have the support, visibility, and opportunities needed to advance into strategic and decision-making positions.
These efforts have strengthened women’s participation in leadership, improved employee engagement and retention, and fostered a culture where diverse perspectives are valued.
This year’s International Women’s Day’s theme is Give to Gain. What does Alitheia Capital give and what does it expect to gain and from whom?
For us at Alitheia Capital, it is more about investment than giving.
What Alitheia Capital invest: We provide more than just funding; we provide intentional, catalytic capital paired with a proprietary Gender Lens Investing (GLI) framework. By investing in growth-stage SMEs, they have access to our strategic guidance and ESG toolkits, we empower them to move from being gender-proactive to gender-strategic, transforming their internal operations into engines of sustainable growth.
What We Gain: We gain Structural Alpha. By intentionally backing women-led and gender-diverse teams, we secure superior financial performance and robust social returns that the broader market often overlooks. For Alitheia, this gain is measured in resilient profitability, strengthened governance, and the mitigation of “groupthink” within our portfolio.
From Whom: We realize these gains from the visionary entrepreneurs we back. Their performance does more than just return capital; it strengthens regional supply chains and expands untapped markets. When we invest capital in these businesses, the entire continent gains a more competitive and inclusive future.
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