At the inaugural EIB FUNDamentals conference held in Luxembourg, Alitheia Capital’s Managing Director, Tokunboh Ishmael, joined leaders from across finance and development to discuss “Women at the Forefront: A Strategic Priority for Inclusive Development.”
The conversation focused on women, inclusion, and how equity has become a true driver of value creation. For Tokunboh, this was more than a discussion but was a moment of reflection on a journey she has lived and led for more than a decade.
“Every system reveals what it values by who it leaves behind,” she said.
When Tokunboh first engaged with the European Investment Bank (EIB) almost ten years ago, gender and inclusion were often side conversations. Today, they sit at the centre of how we understand business success, growth, and resilience.
At Alitheia Capital, this belief is not new. It sits at the heart of everything we do. We believe that capital has character, and we also believe that when finance is guided by intention, it becomes more than a transaction but also a tool for transformation.
Our approach has always been to look where others don’t, which oftentimes might mean to back entrepreneurs who are often overlooked but hold the keys to growth and innovation in their communities. We invest in businesses that are solving real problems, creating jobs, and driving sustainability, especially for women and underserved groups.
This thinking has shaped our investment thesis and our daily decisions. Every investment we make is guided by a single question: how will this business create both financial and social value?
A strong example is Psaltry International, one of our portfolio companies which is a woman-led agribusiness in rural Nigeria. Psaltry was the first company in Africa, and the second in the world, to establish a factory for producing cassava-based sorbitol, a healthier sweetener used in pharmaceuticals, toothpaste, and beverages. This innovation has helped Nigeria reduce its reliance on imports, saving millions in foreign exchange annually. What began as a small cassava processing venture is now an industrial-scale enterprise that supports thousands of smallholder farmers, powers five surrounding communities through clean energy, and exports cassava products to international markets. Psaltry’s story mirrors what we see across our portfolio companies. It is proof that intentional, inclusive finance multiplies returns and impact.
In and out of Africa our portfolio companies continue to show that inclusion works. Businesses led by women and diverse teams are expanding faster, creating more jobs, and delivering more resilient performance over time. These successes reinforce our belief that inclusion is not charity but also smart economics.
At the EIB FUNDamentals panel, Tokunboh reflected on how inclusion has shifted from goodwill to strategy, from a nice idea to a proven path to growth. For us at Alitheia, that is what drives our work every day: designing finance that sees people fully — beyond gender, geography, or circumstance.
When we do that, we don’t just share opportunities more equally. We unlock unseen opportunities, amplify value, and build stronger, more inclusive economies across Africa.
Learn more about how Alitheia Capital is using gender-lens investing to power inclusive growth and long-term value creation across Africa