Adlevo Capital Commits $52 million to African Technology Businesses

Last week, Adlevo Capital announced its first closing of a $52 million capital commitment focused on technology-enabled businesses across sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in Nigeria and South Africa.

Adlevo Capital is a private equity firm focused on technology enabled infrastructure and services investments in sub-Saharan Africa. The Fund has received capital commitments from a premier group of development finance institutions and private institutional investors based in Europe, South Africa and the US.

The press release states:

Adlevo Capital Managers (“Adlevo Capital”) announced today that it has completed the first closing of Adlevo Capital Africa (the “Fund”) with capital commitments of US$52 million. The Fund will make expansion capital investments into companies with technology-enabled business models across sub- Saharan Africa.

According to Yemi Lalude, founder and Managing Partner of Adlevo Capital,

We are very pleased to have attracted investments from several of the most successful Africa fund investors who, like us, see the growing scope for compelling technology-enabled company investments and believe that investments in this area will also provide positive social development outcomes…The Adlevo Capital team has developed a pipeline of attractive investment opportunities and is looking forward to commencing investments and working with the management teams of its portfolio companies.

The Fund has received capital commitments from a premier group of development finance institutions and private institutional investors based in Europe, South Africa and the US.

The Fund’s objective is to make equity and equity-linked investments in rapidly growing private companies in various stages of development that derive their competitive advantage from the development and exploitation of technology or technology-driven processes.

Adlevo will also target clean tech opportunities and may take majority or minority positions.

Adlevo Capital plans to hold additional closings for the Fund over the next nine months with a final closing in the first quarter of 2011. The Fund will seek to invest in companies that possess the following characteristics:

1. Strong management team
2. Large market opportunity
3. Consumer driven growth
4. Positive impact on WIRED attributes

My Thoughts

Before now, there has been no trace of VC funding for technology companies in Nigeria. With this, the Nigerian tech ecosystem will improve tremendously as it will encourage technology innovations, as well as investments and partnerships from local and foreign companies (especially those that have been skeptical about investing in the Nigerian market).

Nigerian tech entrepreneurs will be more focused on developing web and mobile applications, services and technologies that are not only socially and economically relevant, but also financially viable.

In the nearest future, we can expect to see more investments in the Nigerian IT software industry, a catalyst in driving the local IT market and encouraging local software developers to becoming more resourceful in their field.

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