'Tokunboh Ishmael

'Tokunboh Ishmael is an impact investor who believes Africa's real economy is where lasting impact and strong returns meet. She has spent nearly two decades backing the businesses that power it, from fintech and agribusiness to healthcare and climate solutions. Within that mandate, she deliberately seeks out the female founders that mainstream capital too often overlooks, because she sees them as one of the continent's most underpriced opportunities. 

As Co-founder and Managing Partner of Alitheia Capital, she leads a firm managing over $250 million, including Africa's largest gender-lens private equity fund. Alitheia's portfolio companies have created more than 220,000 jobs and improved over 104 million lives. Its exits show the model works: Baobab Nigeria grew from a one-room lender in northern Nigeria into a top-three microfinance bank, made a 3x financial return, and brought hundreds of thousands of people into the financial sector. Alitheia's next fund, Amplify, will back the greening and digitisation of Africa's small businesses. 

'Tokunboh also works to change how capital flows more widely. She is a Trustee of The Earthshot Prize, chairs Financial Sector Deepening Africa's investment committee, and served over a decade on the AVCA board, including a term as Chair. In 2026 she convened W.O.M.A.N., which connected 300 women-led manufacturers with financiers and policymakers. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst charterholder, an alumna of London Business School, a Yale World Fellow and an Aspen Institute Finance Leaders Fellow