Firm launches $20m fund to boost tech in Northern Nigeria, Africa

A venture capital fund, Aduna Capital, has announced a $20 million investment fund to support Africa, especially in the northern region of Nigeria. They said the move was informed by the fact that the region is primarily underserved. According to them, the huge and untapped market in the region is obvious from a shocking report […]

A venture capital fund, Aduna Capital, has announced a $20 million investment fund to support Africa, especially in the northern region of Nigeria.

They said the move was informed by the fact that the region is primarily underserved.

According to them, the huge and untapped market in the region is obvious from a shocking report issued in 2021 by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which claims that 128 million people dwell in northern Nigeria.

They noted that the aforementioned figure exceeds the combined market potential of Ghana and Kenya in terms of talent offerings and customer service performance.

According to research undertaken by the Northern Founders Community (NFC) in 2023 to estimate the financial impact of these two sectors on Nigeria’s economy, it uncovered that start-ups in this sector have each made over $1.2 million in bootstrapped revenue across the region.

In a statement issued on Monday, to formally unveil the fund, Surayyah Ahmad Sani, the General Partner of Aduna Capital, said: “With proper funding and support, these start-ups have the potential to scale significantly, both within the continent and globally.

“Aduna Capital aims to capitalize on these statistics by allocating 50% of its investments to female-led startups.”

In the same vein, Sanusi Ismaila, general partner of Aduna Capital, said: “The objective of this investment is to achieve a 5–10x return on investment, balancing profitable returns for its investors with meaningful investments.”