Former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai has disclosed plans to launch a $100 million venture capital in 2024, around the Kaduna tech ecosystem.
The former governor said he was going willing to stake $2 million of his money for the offtake of the fund and convince investors to provide the remaining funding.
In a post on his X handle, he revealed that the company will takeoff by January 2024.
“I can confirm that our VC-PE firm, Afri-Venture Capital Company Ltd will by the Grace of God, begin operations initially in Abuja in January 2024 with Jimi Lawal, Hafiz Bayero, Eyo Ekpo, and Kabir Yabo as founding directors and initial shareholders. I am privileged to be the part-time Chairman of the Board
“Please pray for our success and the Nigerian (and shortly African) innovators and entrepreneurs we hope to finance, nurture, and mentor to be the Dangote Group of the future,” el-Rufai stated.
The former governor had said in a recent interview that:
“What young people need is essentially mentoring and financing to get things going. They develop the idea and see whether it is viable. And we will open doors for them because they don’t have contact. They don’t know or have access to ministers, presidents, or regulatory agencies. We do. We know the minefields that they have to navigate. We know that they need to give them appointments and we can provide them with the startup funding and in return we take an equity position.
“We don’t want to take your business; we want to develop it. But if we take the risk on you, we will take a percentage of the business.”
