Mezuo Nwuneli
Position: Managing Partner
Categories: Impact First Team, Private Equity Team
Mezuo has more than two decades of experience across private equity, investment banking, and corporate finance. He launched Sahel Capital’s debut fund, the Fund for Agriculture Finance in Nigeria (FAFIN), in 2014, and the Social Enterprise Fund for Agriculture in Africa (SEFAA) in 2021. He provides oversight on the deployment of investment capital and the firm’s portfolio.
Mezuo was one of three partners that set up AFIG’s debut US$72 million generalist fund in 2008, working out of the Dakar office in Senegal. Mezuo started his career with the corporate finance team of the Sabre Group in Dallas in 1995, worked in J.P. Morgan & Co’s Mergers and Acquisitions Group in New York, and then subsequently in a range of finance roles with SecTrust (now Afrinvest), Ocean & Oil Holdings, and MTS First Wireless. Mezuo co-founded AACE Foods (a food processing company) and Sahel Consulting (an agriculture focused management consulting firm) in 2010, and subsequently Sahel Capital in 2013. He serves on the credit committee of LAFCo, which provides working capital to SMEs in the agribusiness sector in Africa, backed by KfW and AgDevCo; and is on the investment committee of FAFIN.
Mezuo is an Eisenhower Fellow and an Archbishop Tutu Fellow. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.Sc. Industrial Management from Carnegie Mellon University. Mezuo received the 2021 Harvard Business School Alumni Achievement Award, the highest honor given by the school. He was also recognized in 2019 as the alumni Entrepreneur of the Year by the Harvard Business School Alumni Association of Nigeria and Impact Investor of the Year by the Impact Investors Foundation.
Mr. Nwuneli serves on the boards of the AACE Foods, Coscharis Farms, Crest Agro Products, First World Communities, Ladgroup, L&Z Integrated Farms, Sahel Capital, and Sahel Consulting. He previously served on the board of Nagode Industries. He is the Chairman/Co-Founder of AACE Foods; Chair of the Strategy Committee at First World Communities; and Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee at Crest Agro Products. He is on the Nigeria National Advisory Board for Impact Investing, and is one of the founding members and a director of the Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, Nigeria (“PEVCA”).
Mezuo Nwuneli
Managing Partner
Olumide Lawson
Position: Partner
Categories: Private Equity Team
Olumide has about two decades of work experience, spanning various roles in financial accounting, treasury management, corporate finance, and private equity in the food and agriculture sector.
Olumide was previously the Chief Financial Officer at Lotus Capital, a leading Nigerian ethical investment firm. He started his career at Guaranty Trust Bank Plc., and from there joined the Financial Control Unit of Asset & Resource Management Company Ltd. (now ARM Investment Managers). He also worked in senior finance roles at Ocean & Oil Holdings, MTS First Wireless, and Legacy Realties Limited. He serves on the Board of Directors of Dayntee Farms, L&Z Integrated Farms, Ladgroup Ltd, and Polyfilm Packaging. He also serves on the investment committee of FAFIN.
Olumide is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®), Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA®), member of the UK Society of Investment Professionals (UKSIP); and an Associate Chartered Accountant (ACA). He has a B.Sc. Accounting degree from Obafemi Awolowo University.
Olumide Lawson
Partner
Oluremi Bodunrin
Position: Operating Partner
Categories: Private Equity Team
Remi has over more than two decades of work experience within the FMCG sector, and more specifically in manufacturing and supply chain roles at Nestle, Reckitt Benkiser, Unilever, Coca Cola Hellenic, and Orbit Chemicals. He has worked within food and agriculture private equity since 2018.
Remi started his career in 1995 as a trainee engineer in the power sector. He subsequently joined the FMCG industry in 1997 and moved through a range of roles: process control & automation; engineering projects in sorghum malt extract, cereals, and bullion seasoning cubes; manufacturing management in charge of cocoa-based beverages, carbonated beverages, and personal care products; and supply chain management across a broad range of agricultural different value chains. He has lived and worked in Nigeria, Kenya, and Saudi Arabia. He serves on the Board of Directors of Ladgroup Ltd and Polyfilm Packaging.
Remi is an SCMX-7 cohort of The Coca-Cola Company, Supply Chain Manager Excellence Program. He has a B. Eng. from the University of Ilorin, and an MBA in Production & Operations Management.
Oluremi Bodunrin
Operating Partner
Tosin Ojo
Position: Principal
Categories: Private Equity Team
Tosin has more than a decade of work experience, spanning investment research, asset management and financial advisory. Prior to Sahel, Tosin had worked with Chapel Hill Denham, CardinalStone and led Verboheit – a financial advisory firm she co-founded, where she led engagements to provide financial advisory, business planning, valuation and capital raising services to clients in the agribusiness, retail & renewable energy sectors.
At Chapel Hill Denham, she was an investment manager for the women-focused impact investment platform (SME.NG) and also worked as VP in the CEO’s office, providing analytical support on strategic projects. While at CardinalStone, she led the investment management team managing over $25million in stocks, eurobonds, money market instruments and direct real estate investment products. She also led sell side research analysts and held engagements with international buy-side analysts, portfolio managers and board level executives of listed companies.
Tosin is a CFA charter holder. She also holds a B.Sc. in Microbiology (First Class Honors) from Obafemi Awolowo University, and an MBA from Oxford’s Said Business School.
Tosin Ojo
Principal
Nouss Bih
Position: Principal
Categories: Private Equity Team
Nouss is a Principal at Sahel Capital, where she leads investment activities of the equity fund from Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
Prior to joining Sahel, Nouss had 6 years of experience as a private equity professional investing in small and medium businesses and start-ups in Africa. She was recently managing investments in Côte d’Ivoire for Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P), an impact investment group dedicated to financing and supporting the growth of SMEs in sub-Saharan Africa. Before joining I&P, Nouss worked in investment banking, primarily in Chile, where she participated in structuring export credit loans and structured trade finance facilities for large Chilean corporates.
Nouss holds an MBA from Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, and a Master in Management from ESCP Europe, Paris.
Nouss Bih
Principal
Adedamola Olabintan
Position: Associate
Categories: Private Equity Team
Adedamola is an investment professional with over four years work experience spanning all aspects of the investment process.
Prior to joining Sahel Capital in 2021, she was Team Lead, Financial Advisory in the Investment Banking and Capital Markets Division of Emerging Africa Capital Group. In this role, she was involved in a number of debt and equity capital raise transactions for clients in different sectors.
She is an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers and holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Ekiti State University.
Adedamola Olabintan
Associate
Gabriel Adebanjo
Position: Associate
Categories: Private Equity Team
Gabriel joined Sahel Capital in 2022 prior to which he worked at United Capital Plc as a Senior Transactor with the investment banking division for four years where he executed various projects across the Capital Markets and Structured/Trade Finance desks. He is a Student Member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), UK and holds a B.Sc in Economics from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-ife.
Gabriel Adebanjo
Associate
Nikita Khemani
Position: Senior Analyst
Categories: Private Equity Team
Nikita is an investment professional with over three years work experience in the Alternative Investments space. Within the Sahel investment team, she focuses on investment analysis, deal structuring, and execution.
Prior to joining Sahel Capital in 2020, she was an Associate Analyst at Alpha Alternative Asset Advisors Private Limited (India), where she focused on assessing businesses on the verge of bankruptcy.
Nikita has a B.Com. Accounting and Finance degree from the University of Mumbai (India).
Nikita Khemani
Senior Analyst
Shaibu Mashud
Position: Analyst
Categories: Private Equity Team
Shaibu is an analyst with Sahel Capital.
Prior to joining Sahel Capital in 2022, he served as an Internal Audit Intern at The Capital Group Limited (Ghana), where he focused on testing, recommending, and overseeing implementations of Internal Controls in departments.
Shaibu has a B.Sc. in Business Administration (First Class Honours) from Ghana Communication Technology University and was awarded the Best Graduating Student in Accounting.