Black Leaders Awareness Day 2024 — African Private Capital Perspectives

On Black Leaders Awareness Day, AVCA engages with prominent leaders in the African private capital industry, highlighting their professional journeys and sharing valuable insights from the individuals who have had an impact on their careers.

This Black Leaders Awareness Day, we share perspectives from Melvyn Lubega, Makole Mupita, Joseph Boateng, Martha Osier, Gbenga Hassan, and David Owino.

“Diversity in leadership means greater depth and breadth of experience and perspective, which in turn allows for a greater ability to relate to employees, clients, and prospective clients. Experience, perspective, and relatability facilitate innovation, which is critical to capturing and maintaining market share.” — Workable

Melvyn Lubega, Partner, Breega

Tell us about your journey to Partner

Reflecting on my professional journey so far, it has been fueled by my goal to create 100,000 sustainable jobs in my lifetime. My first business was a tuck shop I used to run in high school to make pocket money in addition to the scholarship I was on. My academic background is in Actuarial Science and Statistics from the University of Cape Town. I started my first investment company then and began investing in technology-driven businesses.

After my studies, I joined Boston Consulting Group as their first Associate in Africa. It was an excellent opportunity to work across the continent and hone my problem-solving skill set. The experience I gained here was instrumental in shaping the foundation of my first technology venture.

Following BCG, I was fortunate to receive the Rhodes scholarship to the University of Oxford, where my postgraduate research focused on how technology can help solve development challenges at scale in resource-constrained communities within Africa.

During my studies, I met my friends with whom I would build my first software business. Over the next eight years, we successfully built and scaled the company to serve clients in over 60 countries and have teams in over 20 countries.

This experience defined why I do today: we raised over $400 million in venture capital for the world’s best investors, but when I looked for investment in Africa at the time, I struggled to find investors who had experience building and scaling technology businesses. As a Partner at Breega, I aim to be a sparring partner to Africa’s most ambitious innovators and ultimately be the investor I wish I had when building my businesses.

What have been your 3 biggest learnings?

1. Lasting success is a daily discipline: it is about incremental improvements that add up over time. If you aim to grow 1% every day, the small things add up over time. Over the course of a year, this approach can result in a performance that is 38 times better than at the start.
2. I am a big believer in the power of scale. When thinking about building at scale, one must remember (as trivial as it sounds) that a business can only become as big as the size of the problem it solves. In other words, if your solution is limited to a local problem, that’s your total addressable market, whereas if you solve a global problem, your potential market is worldwide.
3. Related to this, I have the privilege of serving on the boards of listed companies and start-ups; what I have come to appreciate is that running a big or a small business isn’t easy, so you might as well build something big.

Who have been your 3 most influential role models?

1. The role models that come to mind do so for different reasons.
   First is my mother, Dr Agnes Ikatekit. As a single mother, she taught me never to forget my roots and community and to always act from a place of love.
2. Second would be Allan W.B. Gray, the founder of Allan Gray (Africa’s largest privately held investment firm) and the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation. He, too, had a powerful woman as a role model — his grandmother, the first female mayor in South Africa. Already, his investment track record rivals Warren Buffet’s; it is his approach to philanthropy that has influenced me the most. The example he set in his philanthropic giving, like Chuck Feeney of Duty-Free Shoppers Group, is aspirational: he ultimately gave his entire stake in his business to charitable causes.
3. Third would be Ernest Oppenheimer, the founder of Anglo-American.
   If you read into his professional journey, you realise the importance of taking risks, showing up in every role you find yourself in, and, most importantly, building at scale and going so for generations. At one point in the company’s over 100-year history, it and its related entities accounted for 25% of South Africa’s GDP and over 60% of the value of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

What inspires you to start your day?

I wish I could say the sound of my cell phone alarm, but it has become ineffective in getting me to start my day, especially during the cold winter in South Africa. Jokes aside, I feel an immense privilege to do what I do and to be able to use technology to scale my impact and, indirectly, the impact of others. Knowing that if I do this well, I can enable the creation of 100,000 jobs in my lifetime is what inspires me.

Makole Mupita, Executive Director, Mahlako A Phahla Financial Services

Tell us about your journey to Executive Director

I am a qualified Chartered Accountant, having completed my articles at Investec Bank where during my third year, I specialised in private equity. I transitioned to working with a family member but found myself still searching for fulfilment. Taking time off after becoming a CA, I sought to discover purpose in my daily work.

Initially drawn to the CA profession by its financial prospects I soon realised I craved more. Joining Old Mutual’s infrastructure team as an Assistant Portfolio Manager marked a pivotal shift. Progressing to become Portfolio Manager for their IDEAS Fund within the AIIM team I spent six years there. Yet, despite my involvement in infrastructure projects, I remained keenly aware of the need for government support in project structuring and advisory services in South Africa, particularly for opportunities available to black women.

This realisation prompted me to co-found the Mahlako Energy Fund. Our mission was clear: address the lack of capital available to black communities, tackle South Africa’s energy crisis, promote women’s participation and use investment funds to alleviate infrastructure challenges across Africa.

Our journey began modestly, aiming to raise a fund of 500 to 700 million rand. However, through support and determination, we successfully raised 2 billion rand, making us the largest women-owned private equity fund in South Africa after more than seven years of fundraising efforts. We have since deployed most of these funds and are now looking ahead to our next steps, continuing to ask how we can contribute not only to South Africa but to the entire continent.

What have been your 3 biggest learnings?

1. I have learnt a lot! Firstly, when you hire advisors — you must listen to them, we’ve paid school fees along the way.
2. I’ve learnt that without failure it means you are not pushing yourself and you will always have situations that require you to move on swiftly. I consider it as a learning opportunity and see how it can be done differently next time.
3. I’ve also learnt that everything is possible, just go for it. It can be done! If you can dream it, you can do it — it’s possible. We must not be limited by our upbringing or circumstances. If you believe you can do it, you can do it and you should push yourself.

Who have been your 3 most influential role models?

1. The most influential role models have been my mother, who we named our company after, my father and husband.
   Both my parents whilst growing up in rural South Africa achieved so much with limited resources. They employed close to 600 people in the community, their businesses were influential, they inspire me, and we honour them every day. One of the lessons they taught me is that we must not only think of ourselves, but we must carry and develop others and that’s the way my sister and I run our business; in asking, how do we create, develop employment and make an impact in South Africa?
2. My husband is a hard worker and always sees the bigger picture.
   He is vision orientated and his leadership style inspires me. The third is my husband, he is a hard worker, always sees the bigger picture, vision orientated, and his leadership style inspires me.

What inspires you to start your day?

Every day is different and I am always looking forward to another day where I am healthy. I always give thanks for my health and the challenges that come with every day. For me, it’s a game, it’s fun. Every day is a new game, let the games begin!

Joseph Boateng, Chief Investment Officer, Casey Family Programs

Tell us about your journey to Chief Investment Officer

My dad ran a successful consulting firm and I worked with him for 5 years before attending the University of Ghana, cultivating my interest in finance and investing early on.

My dad always imparted the importance of seeing the world and expanding my horizons so after graduating from the university in Ghana and spending some time working at a youth organisation in Brussels, I applied for an internship at Xerox in Los Angeles. Over the next 13 years, I worked at Xerox in various divisions including their pension group under the celebrated pension CIO Myra Drucker. After Xerox, I moved to Europe for a position with KPMG Consulting, leading their finance and structured products group. In 2002, I returned to the US to join the pensions operations group at Johnson & Johnson. In 2007, I joined Casey Family Programs as the Chief Investment Officer, where I was tasked with running their new investment office.

What have been your 3 biggest learnings?

1. First, be open and treat people fairly.
2. Second, our most important asset is talent but you must nurture and grow it.
3. Lastly, and maybe most important, doing good is good business.

Who have been your 3 most influential role models?

1. My parents and grandparents
2. Myra Drucker, pension CIO at Xerox
3. Bernie Greene, a former boss at Xerox.

What inspires you to start your day?

I am inspired by the opportunity to make a positive change and add value to the world around me, particularly the children in foster care who are impacted by the work I do as CIO at Casey Family Programs.

Martha Osier, Partner, Adenia Partners

Tell us about your journey to Partner

At university, I studied economics and international relations as I viewed those as the most relevant subjects that would help me launch a career in the development field. Having grown up in Kenya, I naively viewed development-focused non-profits as critical actors who drove the economic progress of developing countries.

Luckily, I went to a university that was located approximately 1.5 hours from New York City and naturally, social trips into the city piqued my curiosity to learn more about the inner workings of the financial capital of the world. Post-graduation, I joined Citigroup in the leveraged finance group at a time that marked both the dramatic rise and fall of leveraged buyouts. Nonetheless, this experience led me to work for a middle market private equity firm in the US that relied less on leverage to drive returns, but on operational and strategic levers to drive growth. Moreover, I saw quite vividly the important impact that private businesses have in growing an economy and decided this is where I wanted to focus my career, particularly in Africa. Post my MBA, I returned to Kenya, initially in a business development role with a multinational but quickly joined a first-time fund manager that was focused on East Africa. After several years, I was fortunate to get the opportunity to launch the East Africa office of Adenia Partners where I currently lead the team in managing investments. Adenia has raised slightly under $1.0 billion across a total of 5 private equity funds for investments in Africa.

What have been your 3 biggest learnings?

1. Progress is not always logarithmic — which has taught me to keep an open mind whenever we assess potential investment opportunities. Given the lack of conventional and robust data in our markets, we can often either grossly underestimate or overestimate the potential of opportunities.
2. Emotional intelligence is key in building relationships both in business and personal
3. Great opportunities are not always nicely packaged with clear checkmarks on all potential areas of risk. To some, our criteria to invest in businesses may be like looking for a needle in a haystack, yet this is often not the case as no opportunity is perfect. So whilst not all caterpillars metamorphose into butterflies, it’s important to see the potential to change and adapt, rather than be 100% investor-ready.

Who have been your 3 most influential role models?

1. Carla Harris — one of the most senior women on Wall Street and author of the book “Expect to Win”

2. Serena Williams — not only outstanding tennis career but now as the lead investor behind Serena Ventures

3. Suzie Orman — simple and effective teachings to manage personal finances and savings

What inspires you to start your day?

The opportunity to connect the dots as an investor and support entrepreneurs and their companies to continue to create quality, sustainable jobs, and wealth creation opportunities for our youth.

Gbenga Hassan, Managing Partner, Àrgentil Capital Management Limited

Tell us about your journey to Managing Partner

My career journey has been very interesting. From very early on, I remember I wanted to work in the investment and finance sector. Growing up, I had always been intrigued by reading The Economist and similar financial-related editorials and felt it would be an interesting place to work. I studied BA Engineering and Management and obtained an MSc in Economics and Management in the UK and subsequently joined the graduate finance stream of British Telecom’s consultancy, Syntegra.

A placement in their offices in the City of London further reinforced my interest in working in investment banking. I then joined Standard Bank London where I completed and gained my ACCA qualifications and worked with the key trading desks on their reporting. Joining Standard Bank at the time was very interesting as a few months into it, the 1998 Russia debt crisis happened, and the bank almost went under given its exposure. This exposed me at an early stage in my career to the uncertainty of outcomes and the need to be ready to deal with this to grow professionally.

After university, I was also entrepreneurial and along with my sister engaged in property development and investing. Between this, my accounting exams and working long investment banking hours, it was challenging to have a social life but always managed to fit that in.

The next key career milestone was moving back to Nigeria to help roll out Stanbic Nigeria’s corporate and project finance business. Moving back to Nigeria at the time was viewed as risky but it helped me understand what it meant to live and work in Nigeria and develop personal relationships which was how I later joined Aureos Capital and worked in the team that managed the US$50m West Africa SME Fund. This introduction to PE by a leading emerging markets investor in SMEs was foundational for my career move from investment banking to PE. Again, through relationships, there was the opportunity to be part of the founding team of what is Àrgentil Capital today which was viewed as risky at the time.

What have been your 3 biggest learnings?

1. Developing relationships is very important to grow professionally. Many of my key career moves have happened through a relationship who felt I could add value to their employer or complement them in founding a new business.
2. Believe in yourself and your dreams. I often say “only you dream your own dreams” so it’s important to not be limited by what others say can be done or not be done. However, dreaming is only the start of the journey, the hard part is the execution and the grit to achieve the goal.
3. Balance the above by taking good advice from mentors and people who have been successful in what they do. There is a lot you can learn from others to ensure you don’t make the same mistakes. Also, pay this forward to others so they can benefit from what you have learnt.

Who have been your 3 most influential role models?

• My folks — their impact has been extremely important across many aspects. Having an entrepreneurial mother who ran a business was very influential in my views of being an entrepreneur. Their family and moral values, encouraging and supporting themselves and us in all our endeavours. Working hard to achieve their ambitions is something that has influenced me constantly.
• Mentors — official (few) and unofficial (many) who I have interacted with and looked up to along the way and given me the confidence to continue to pursue my ambitions and not be limited.

What inspires you to start your day?

• My family — my wife and kids.
• My goals that are yet to be achieved.

David Owino, Partner, Ascent Capital Advisory LLP

Tell us about your journey to Partner

I trained as an accountant and had the lucky stumble into the investment industry 23 years ago at Centum — the leading publicly listed investment company in East Africa. Starting as a junior analyst I had a lot to learn and thankfully I did have very good leaders who not only trained but mentored me well.

I will always be grateful to Tony Wainaina and Peter Mwangi. I rose through the ranks to head the investment division and also doubled up as the Company Secretary which meant that I had a chance to interact with some of the best and seasoned business minds in East Africa. After 13 years at Centum, I took the plunge/risk to join the PE world by helping raise an SME PE fund. I did not know what was in store and how gruelling it is but to win a lottery you got to buy a ticket. I never looked back but it was the experience I earned from Centum that led to the successful raise of Ascent. It’s never been too easy or comfortable but I would do it again and again if asked. The Ascent family of funds now has over US$210mn AUM and we hope to achieve the objectives set for our investors and also see East Africa’s SMEs develop into big and lasting enterprises that surpass their founders and provide world-class products while creating employment and markets for other industry players

What have been your 3 biggest learnings?

1. It’s all about relationships at whatever level you deal
2. Be simple and open-minded — learn to listen and be ready to learn
3. Grit is necessary to succeed in this industry

Who have been your 3 most influential role models?

1. Jesus Christ
2. Oketch Abungu (my Dad)
3. Warren Buffet

What inspires you to start your day?

My Family — it’s all about them in this life journey!