In our second series focused on founders, allocators and investors on the Frontier – we hear from a diverse group of professionals who share their vision for investing, impact and change. From venture capitalists focused on the burgeoning world of Prop-Tech, to investing with a gender lens, developing a network to change the black narrative in the professional world, to harnassing the power of music royalties, to payment platforms – we share insights from the coalface.
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149. James Penney of Darwin Alternative Investment Management – Towards Ensuring Dignity at every Stage and Walk of Life
James Penney is Chairman of Darwin Alternative Investment Management Ltd, a firm that offers innovative alpha driven investment solutions for long term investors. Our conversation covers his exceptionally diverse background, and his experience with studying theology, languages and living in Latin America doing mission-based work.
BONUS EPISODE: Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes
Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes is the founder of Aruwa Capital Management, a growth equity impact fund investing in untapped opportunities across Nigeria and West Africa.
Founded when she was only 29, Aruwa Capital Management aims to change the narrative for women as capital allocators and entrepreneurs by investing in businesses that make an impact on addressing the gender gap.
134. Tremaine Wills – Mind over Money and Mind over Matter
Tremaine Wills is the founder and chief operating officer of Mind Over Money, which provides financial planning advice and manages investment portfolios to help clients meet their financial goals. She formerly spent time as an investment advisor representative, and from 2015 to 2019 worked as a maths teacher initially for Teach for America. Based in Virginia, she is passionate about increasing financial literacy for the black community in particular.
Toyin Oluwole – Opportunity Knocks on the Journey Home
Toyin Oluwole’s last role was as a Senior Strategy Manager with Royal London. She previously worked in a range of financial and marketing roles at Standard Life and Moody Monday. She recently left Scotland and returned to her home country of Nigeria, and it was a moving Linked In post that she wrote that led me to her.
Obi Ozor – Disruption, Innovation and Building Resilience as a Founder
Obi Ozor is Founder of Kobo360, a privately owned, pan-African technology company disrupting the African third-party logistics industry. Kobo360 was named one of the Top 100 SMEs in Africa in 2018 by Business Day and Disruptor of the Year at the Africa CEO Forum on 2019. The company uses big data and agile technology to reduce friction and scale efficiency in the African logistics ecosystem. He previously held positions at Uber, JP Morgan and Bezmo Global, an international, socially-minded investment firm focused on the African continent.
Raymond Onovwigun – How Recycling Metal is Key to Achieving Each of the E, the S and the G
Raymond Onovwigun is founder and CEO at Romco Group, which trades and processes non-ferrous metal. Founded in 2015, it now employs over 180 people in Nigeria, over 50 in Ghana, and another 15 in the UK and is on track to have revenues of £40m by the end of this year. Ray has a fascinating journey that has taken him from South London, to founding a successful plumbing business while still at university to his current quest to help to close the sustainability gap in Africa.
Our conversation starts with his Nigerian heritage, how he learned the meaning of hard work through following his mother around in her cleaning business in London, what interested in him in plumbing and how he perceived a business opportunity.
Eric Idiahi – Honesty, Humility and Hard Work as a Recipe for Success
Eric Idiahi is co-founder and a partner of Verod Capital, a private equity firm based in Lagos, which he founded in 2008. He is Chairman of the Board of Tangerine Africa as well as Eleva Group and holds a number of Non Executive Director positions. He was previously a Managing Parter of FountainHead Media Group as well as a Financial Derivatives Company.
Our conversation traces Eric’s move to the US where he completed his high school and university education and what drove his decision to move back to Nigeria. This was an exciting time, and we look at some of the surprising aspects of re-integration – and how the fact that he wasn’t married initially was relevant.
Shalom Lloyd – From The Kingdom of Essan to Harrods: A Journey of Impact
Shalom Lloyd had a career of over 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry and then went on to found two businesses. She is the founder of Naturally Tribal skincare and the co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of eMQT. She has been a keynote speaker on the topic of innovation and was a fellow of the Start-Up Leadership Program in London until 2020.
A serial entrepreneur, Shalom studied pharmacy in Russia from the age of 15 and there followed a passion for the pharma industry, which sparked her two start-ups – in beauty and the field of medical research. Each venture is focused also on creating impact and employment in the Kingdom of Esan. This podcast also features in our Diverse Founders series.
Bridget Uku – Global Roots; Local Investments
Bridget Uku is Group Manager Treasury & Investments at a UK local authority, where she has spent over 14 years, and she previously worked as Investments and Insurance Finance Manager at the Greater London Authority. She is a frequent participant on the local government conference circuit, which is where we met.
A delightful account of a journey from Nigeria to London, the role of parental role models, balancing work and family and how family obligations drive career growth.