BOI Appoints Kuramo Capital To Manage $170.6m DICE Fund For Startups

The Bank of Industry (BOI) has appointed Kuramo Capital Management as fund manager of the DICE Fund of Funds under the federal government’s Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (iDICE) Programme.

The contract signing ceremony, held in Abuja between BOI’s managing director/CEO, Dr Olasupo Olusi and the chief executive of Kuramo Capital, Wale Adeosun, marked a pivotal milestone in Nigeria’s accelerating commitment to empowering its technology and creative entrepreneurs.

The DICE Fund of Funds is structured to achieve a minimum total capitalisation of $170.6 million, with the federal government contributing an anchor commitment of $85.3 million through the iDICE Programme.

Kuramo Capital is mandated to raise matching private-sector capital on a dollar-for-dollar basis. This represents one of the largest dedicated government investments in technology and creative sector startups in African history.

The iDICE Programme represents the federal government of Nigeria’s most ambitious intervention in the digital economy and creative sectors. Co-financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB), Agence Française de Développement (AFD), and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB). The programme was designed with a clear mandate: to promote entrepreneurship, drive innovation, create jobs at scale, and position Nigeria as Africa’s leading hub for the knowledge economy.

The signing of the DICE Fund of Funds contract with Kuramo Capital is the latest in a series of significant milestones being delivered across the iDICE Programme.

As of June 2026, implementation is well advanced on all three programme pillars, skills and enterprise development, access to finance, and ecosystem enablement, with activities running in all six geopolitical zones.

Specifically, on skills & enterprise development, iDICE launched the iDICE Startup Bridge three months ago, with the first cohort of 185 founders well advanced in the week four of training.

As part of the programme’s access to finance component, BOI has also rolled out the BOI/iDICE Debt Fund and & IsDB Murabaha Debt Fund. Both debt products have set aside a combined financing of $110 million for start-ups in the technology and creative sectors

Speaking on the Fund, MD/CEO of the Bank of Industry, Dr Olasupo Olusi, said, “By investing in Ventures Platform’s Fund II, and now by establishing the DICE Fund of Funds with Kuramo Capital, we are deepening the federal government’s objective of upscaling Nigeria’s technology and creative sectors by catalysing strategic investments in high-growth, technology-enabled enterprises.

The Bank of Industry is proud to be the executing agency driving this historic investment into the hands of Nigeria’s innovators.”

The CEO of Kuramo Capital Management, Wale Adeosun, said, “The DICE Fund of Funds represents a landmark moment for Africa’s venture capital ecosystem. Nigeria is demonstrating that a government can be both a serious anchor investor and a credible market-builder.

“We are honoured to be entrusted with this mandate and committed to deploying every resource at our disposal to raise the matching capital, invest wisely, and deliver returns that justify this historic confidence”.

The Vice President, Kashim Shettima, stated that “the commencement of investing by iDICE is an exciting milestone and a leap forward in the determined efforts of the Government of Nigeria, under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, to deliver on our vision of unleashing the full potential of Nigeria’s young people, in line with the Renewed Hope agenda.”