Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes: Building The Future Of Private Equity In Africa

Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes is one of Africa’s leading private equity investors and the Founder and Managing Partner of Aruwa Capital Management, a Lagos-based investment firm focused on providing growth capital to high-potential small and medium-sized businesses in Nigeria and Ghana. Since founding Aruwa in 2019, she has established herself as a pioneer in gender-lens investing, backing businesses that address critical gaps in healthcare, manufacturing, financial inclusion, agriculture, consumer goods, and other essential sectors.

Under her leadership, Aruwa has grown into one of West Africa’s most respected investment firms, managing more than $40 million in assets across two funds while championing inclusive economic growth.

Before launching Aruwa Capital Management, Okunbo Rhodes was the Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Syntaxis Capital Africa, where she led investments in small and medium-sized enterprises across Sub-Saharan Africa. The firm formed part of Syntaxis Capital, an emerging markets private equity platform managing approximately $300 million in assets on behalf of global institutional investors. Her experience investing across diverse African markets strengthened her conviction that there was a significant financing gap for growing businesses, particularly those led or owned by women.

Earlier in her career, she worked in the Leveraged Finance and Mergers & Acquisitions teams at J.P. Morgan in London, where she participated in transactions worth more than $6 billion across emerging markets, including Nigeria. She also gained private equity experience at TLG Capital, an Africa-focused investment firm, after beginning her career at Lehman Brothers shortly before the global financial crisis. The collapse of Lehman Brothers proved to be an early defining moment, reinforcing her resilience and shaping the disciplined investment approach that would later define her career.

Recognising that Africa’s funding landscape overlooked a large segment of profitable, fast-growing businesses, Okunbo Rhodes founded Aruwa Capital Management to bridge this gap. She identified an estimated $150 billion financing shortfall affecting SMEs in West Africa and noted that fewer than 2% of investment dollars on the continent reached women-led businesses. Rather than viewing this imbalance as a limitation, she saw it as a compelling investment opportunity where disciplined capital could generate both strong financial returns and measurable social impact.

Launching Aruwa was far from straightforward. Before the firm could make its first investment, she had to build a team, establish operational infrastructure, and persuade institutional investors to back a first-time fund manager. Without management fees to finance operations, she personally covered salaries and operating expenses while fundraising.

Years of persistence eventually paid off as Aruwa successfully closed its debut institutional fund at over $20 million, attracting backing from major global development finance institutions and family offices. The firm has since expanded with a second fund, bringing total assets under management to more than $40 million.

Aruwa’s investment portfolio reflects Okunbo Rhodes’ strategy of supporting businesses with proven models and significant growth potential. The firm has invested in companies including OmniRetail, a technology platform transforming Nigeria’s informal retail sector by connecting manufacturers, distributors, and small retailers while expanding access to digital payments and working capital. Aruwa has also backed Fastizers, one of Nigeria’s fastest-growing indigenous snack food manufacturers; MDaas Global, which operates affordable diagnostic healthcare centres under the BeaconHealth Diagnostics brand; and Yikodeen, a Nigerian manufacturer of industrial safety footwear benefiting from increasing local content requirements.

Beyond investment performance, Okunbo Rhodes has become a prominent advocate for gender diversity in African finance. She has consistently argued that investing in female entrepreneurs is both commercially attractive and economically necessary, particularly given Africa’s high rate of women-led businesses. Her work has helped demonstrate that inclusive investing can deliver competitive financial returns while expanding access to capital for underserved founders.

Her achievements have earned widespread recognition. In 2024, she received the Private Equity Africa Female Founder Award, People’s Choice Award, and Leading Lady Award. She was named 2X Global Woman Fund Manager of the Year in 2023 and has been recognised by the Institute Choiseul among the Top 100 Global Leaders Under 40 in 2022, 2023, and 2024. She also became the first female fund manager in Nigeria to raise more than $10 million for a first institutional private equity fund.

In addition to leading Aruwa, Okunbo Rhodes serves on several corporate boards spanning the healthcare, hospitality, and agriculture sectors, where she contributes to governance and long-term business growth. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the University of Bristol.

Outside the boardroom, she is a wife and mother who enjoys tennis, travelling, and cooking. Her leadership reflects a combination of technical investment expertise, entrepreneurial determination, and a commitment to building businesses that create lasting economic value. Through Aruwa Capital Management, Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes continues to redefine private equity in Africa by proving that investing with purpose and investing for strong financial returns can go hand in hand.