El-Rufai dumps politics, plans $100m venture capital in private sector

Former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has announced his move back to the private sector.

In a tweet on X(formerly called Twitter), the former Governor on Monday, December 4 confirmed he has launched a $100 million venture capital fund for startups in Nigeria, particularly those in the Kaduna tech ecosystem.

He urged Nigerians to pray for the success of the new firm that will start operations in 2024.

Announcing the key players that would head the firm he named "Afri-Venture Capital Company Ltd", El-Rufai tweeted: "MONDAY ANNOUNCEMENT: I can confirm that our VC-PE firm, Afri-Venture Capital Company Ltd will by the Grace of God, begin operations initially in Abuja in January 2024 with Jimi Lawal, Hafiz Bayero, Eyo Ekpo and Kabir Yabo as founding directors and initial shareholders. I am privileged to be the part-time Chairman of the Board.

"Please pray for our success and the Nigerian (and in the near future African) innovators and entrepreneurs we hope to finance, nurture, and mentor to be the Dangote Group of the future."

This announcement by El-Rufai confirmed a report that revealed he has finally dumped politics and has ventured into business, "he plans to match his ambitions with actions".

According to the report, the Kaduna politician disclosed that he is willing to stake $2 million of his money for the offtake of the fund.

Adding, he plans to convince investors to provide the remaining funding. He made this disclosure in Marrakech in November for the Africa Investment Forum where he spoke to BusinessDay.

MONDAY ANNOUNCEMENT: I can confirm that our VC-PE firm, Afri-Venture Capital Company Ltd will by the Grace of God, begin operations initially in Abuja in January 2024 with Jimi Lawal, Hafiz Bayero, Eyo Ekpo and Kabir Yabo as founding directors and initial shareholders. I am…

— Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai (@elrufai) December 4, 2023