Principals
Ada Osakwe
Partner
Ada is the Forbes Africa Business Woman 2021. An award-winning entrepreneur and investor, she founded Agrolay Ventures to support early-stage companies in Africa, focused on the food and technology sectors. Since 2015, the firm has built a portfolio of high-growth investments, including The Nuli Juice Company (‘Nuli’), Nigeria’s fastest-growing farm-to-table beverage producer and fast-casual restaurant chain that utilizes locally grown vegetables and fruits. Ada founded Nuli and serves as the start-up’s Chief Executive.
Ada serves on the Board of Factor[e] (a venture building PE firm), the Governing Board of the One Acre Fund (a social enterprise that serves small-holder farmers in Africa), and an Advisory Board member of Infinite Foods (Africa's leading plant-based food distributor). From 2012 to 2015, Ada served as the Senior Investment Adviser to Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, Nigeria’s former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. Prior to this, she was Vice President at Kuramo Capital, a New York-based private equity firm, and from 2005 to 2009 was a Senior Investment Officer at the African Development Bank (AfDB). Ada also worked briefly with Actis during her summer at Business School. She began her career as an Analyst at BNP Paribas investment bank, London.
Ada received her MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, MSc in Economics and Finance from University of Warwick, U.K. and BSc in Economics (First Class Honours) from the University of Hull, U.K.
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Tobi Edun is a Partner at Agrolay Advisors and avid financial advisor and investor in Africa's real-sector. He currently serves as a Vice President at ARM Infrastructure Fund.
Tobi was previously a technical adviser to the Commissioner for Finance in Lagos State where he advised on fiscal policy and debt management. He assisted on re-engineering the state’s debt portfolio resulting in savings of up to N40 billion over 4 years and the restructuring of the state’s tolling assets to secure private sector investment, as well as various policy initiatives aimed at boosting government revenues to fund capital projects.
Tobi’s public sector exposure in Nigeria also includes roles in the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, a government-sponsored bailout bank, working at the intersection between policy framework and the private sector.
Prior to working with the Lagos State government, Tobi was an Associate at Travant Capital, an investment advisory boutique based in Lagos. At Travant, Tobi worked on a number of transactions across various sectors including a $50 million debt restructuring for a real estate developer and a ~$400m restructuring of a state government’s debt portfolio. Tobi has also held investment banking roles at Renaissance Capital and Standard Bank.
He holds an MA (Cantab) from the University of Cambridge.