‘Evangelising investment in Africa my passion’

Oluwadamilola Thompson
May 10, 2024

Lawyer/investment expert Oluwadamilola Thompson is the founder, Diligence Africa.co, an investment advisory firm that provides risk intelligence solutions to investors in Africa. The venture capital investor and entrepreneur boasts over 14 years of experience investing, building, and executing strategies for Venture Capital (VC) funds and tech companies across global markets. Oluwadamilola, more popularly called Dami by friends and business associates, has invested in and supported the investments of over 30 tech companies. She shares her story, particularly her prioritisation of women empowerment with DANIEL ESSIET.

With a demographic dividend that has become a significant draw card for investors seeking long-term growth opportunities, Africa is undoubtedly, a global investors’ bride. By 2050, for instance, the continent will house one-quarter of the world’s population. And with over 60 per cent below the age of 25, this presents a massive consumer market and a strategic talent pool. Also, the continent is currently experiencing rapid urbanization, driving demand for innovative solutions across various sectors, including Financial Technology (fintech), e-commerce, healthcare, Artificial Intelligence (AI), logistics, etc.
While some less discerning investors appear not convinced about Africa, investment professional and founder, Diligence Africa.co, an investment advisory firm that provides risk intelligence solutions to investors investing in Africa, Oluwadamilola Thompson, is an unrepentant believer in the huge but largely untapped potential in the continent. She, therefore, stops at nothing in evangelizing investment in Africa, which she strongly believes is a viable investment destination with mouth-watering Return on Investment (RoI). Her optimism and faith in Africa as the next investment frontier is unshakable.
“Africa is the next frontier, and it is still largely untapped,” Oluwadamilola, more popularly called Dami by close friends and business associates, declared. According to Dami, who boasts over 14 years of experience investing, building, and executing strategies for Venture Capital (VC) funds and tech companies across global markets, “Our challenges create opportunities for innovation and superior technology, and we just need all the right pieces – technology, talent, regulations, and infrastructure to fall in place to harness the ‘diamonds’ in our continent.”
A venture capital investor, entrepreneur, and operator, Dami predicted that “Many countries will be at our (Africa’s) doorstep seeking to do business with us when this happens. I still believe this will happen.” While reiterating that Africa is ripe with potential for investment opportunities, and there are several overlooked sectors that could offer promising returns, Dami said: “I think many sectors have been explored but I believe there is a massive gap in the amount of funding that goes into sectors such as power and renewable energy, agriculture, supply chain, and infrastructure development.”
She said the renewable energy sector, for instance, holds immense potential, given the continent’s abundant natural resources and the growing demand for sustainable energy solutions. Steady and uninterrupted power supply, she emphasized, is still a dream in many African countries, and it remains a critical portion of economic growth of every country, yet the sector is grossly underfunded. Same for agriculture, which she said is a critical food security and economic development sector that presents opportunities for investment in agritech, supply chain management, logistics, and storage facilities.
With virtually all the economic sectors brimming with opportunities most of which are largely untapped, Dami’s passion to help drive investments in Africa is hardly surprising. “As an African investment professional with over 14 years of experience, I am passionate about evangelizing investment in Africa because of the region’s immense potential. Africa represents a viable and attractive investment destination in today’s macroeconomic climate,” she told The Nation.
According to her, several countries are already actively seeking to attract investment into Africa, with nations such as Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Egypt, and Rwanda implementing business-friendly policies, establishing specialized economic zones, and introducing incentives to lure investors. “These countries recognize the imperative of fostering an enabling environment for entrepreneurship and innovation to thrive,” Dami stated.
A Lawyer by training, Dami stormed the African investment landscape armed with requisite experience which she has since brought to bear on the highly competitive private finance industry. It all began when she became an investment executive executing multiple transactions spanning equity financing and other areas. After falling in love with the process of investing, Dami began to focus on investments across sectors, including technology, financial services, consumer, health care and logistics etc.
Dami’s story: “I started out my career at a boutique law firm providing corporate and commercial advisory services to entrepreneurs and their businesses and advising investors on venture capital transactions. After working with two prestigious law firms, I moved to the venture capital industry in its early days in 2016 to become General Counsel & Vice President and the first employee at one of Africa’s first venture capital firms, EchoVC Partners. At EchoVC Partners, I invested in and supported the investments of over 30 technology companies.”
Her support of the investment of over 30 technology companies was from deal origination, analysis, diligence, negotiation, and transaction documentation across various industries into early-stage companies to late-stage companies on the African continent, the US, UK, Europe, and Latin America. after a successful career at EchoVC, Dami said she was appointed Vice-President and Global Head of Emerging Markets for TradeX, a Business –to-Business (B2B) Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) automotive technology company.
At TradeX, Dami she led their expansion across emerging markets -Nigeria, Kenya, Mexico, Ghana, the Dominican Republic, and also Japan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It was after exiting TradeX that Dami founded Diligence Africa.co, an investment advisory firm that provides risk intelligence solutions to investors in African and Africa-focused opportunities.
The company also provides start-up advisory services to founders building for or expanding to the African continent. She is also Managing Partner and co-founder at Yellowwood Capital, an early-stage VC firm investing in underrepresented founders.
Dami is also Chief Operating Officer (COO) and co-founder of Grupa.io, a tech start-up that matches technical talent in big tech companies to start-ups to solve the global technical talent gap; Executive Director and co-founder of Ventures Dialogue, a not-for-profit organisation promoting African entrepreneurship through education and training, with special focus on women entrepreneurs.
The acclaimed investment gurus is one of the founding members of Rising Tide Africa, an angel investment network of over 100 women bridging the gender gap and enabling female financial and economic inclusion through investments and mentorship across Sub-Saharan Africa in African and Africa-focused technology companies.
Indeed, in all she does, Dami has always prioritized women empowerment in Africa. She justified her focus in this regard thus: “Empowering women in Africa is the norm in all my organisations. Specifically, at Diligence Africa, not only is 90 per cent of our organisation women-led, we actively promote women economic empowerment through targeted investment strategies, capacity-building programmes, and partnerships with organisations advocating for this.”
She said Diligence Africa is working with limited partners, institutional investors, fund managers, Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), accelerators, incubators, angel investment networks, and hubs to support and invest in women fund managers. She is also working with fund managers to invest in women entrepreneurs and to provide training and capacity-building programmes to them.
“In addition, we also work directly with women entrepreneurs to identify the problems and challenges with their businesses and provide them with the necessary resources, training, and access required to build scalable and sustainable businesses. By investing in women-led enterprises and supporting initiatives that address barriers to women’s participation in the economy, we are unlocking the untapped potential of this segment and driving sustainable development from the smallest nuclei,” Dami added.
Dami, while pointing out that Africa has the highest number of women entrepreneurs, stated that there needs to be more programmes to support them because “When you create value for one woman, value is made for an entire family, causing ripple effects in communities all over the nation.” She said women entrepreneurs need access to additional funding and technical assistance to support and sustain their growth, including increased funding for women fund managers investing in women-led businesses in Africa.
Be it by supporting and investing in women-led businesses in Africa or leveraging the VC and private equity industry to spur Africa’s economic growth in areas and sectors historically ignored by bigger funders, Dami hinged unlocking Africa’s full potential on addressing the several hurdles that are impeding growth. “Improving infrastructure, fostering a conducive regulatory environment, and enhancing access to finance are crucial to unlocking massive economic growth,” she said.

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Additionally, she said greater regional integration, facilitation of intra-African trade, and practical and result-driven collaboration among stakeholders across the ecosystem are needed. “Investors, allocators, and entrepreneurs can contribute to tackling bold problems and fostering sustainable growth in Africa through strategic partnerships, capacity building, and promoting responsible investing practices.
By leveraging local expertise, embracing innovative solutions, and adopting a long-term perspective, we can drive positive change and create shared value, improving the lives of the underserved population,” she added.
According to Dami, Africa has such a great talent pool and innovative technologies that can be harnessed to foster growth and insights into opportunities on the continent. She also said the role of Africans in the diaspora is such a critical aspect of the growth of the continent, not just in terms of remittances but also for knowledge transfer in various sectors.
While expressing her belief that investors, allocators, and entrepreneurs can play critical roles in fostering innovation and sustainable growth in Africa, she said by funding ventures that focus on sustainable solutions, investors can help drive positive change while also generating financial returns.
Dami also said mentorship, cross-sector collaboration, supporting ecosystem development initiatives, adopting innovative financing models, and promoting sustainable business practices are important. “Entrepreneurs must be encouraged to think boldly, tackle complex challenges through innovative models and technologies, and use business and regulatory incentives.
“Entrepreneurs must also be taught to embrace governance, and sustainable practices, and leverage disruptive technologies to promote local research and development. These learnings must also start from secondary schools to the universities and colleges of education and across tech hubs to create solutions tailored to African markets.
“Investing in local talent development programs to equip young Africans with future-oriented skills and encouraging cross-border collaborations to leverage regional strengths are also crucial. Furthermore, engaging policymakers to forge favorable regulatory environments can further enhance innovation and entrepreneurship,” she stated.

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