Olu Olufemi-White is redesigning African capital through Alami Capital, aligning ethical investment, policy, and innovation.
As a lawyer qualified in multiple jurisdictions – Nigeria, the United Kingdom, and New York-, Olu Olufemi-White has spent more than two decades moving across borders, sectors, and institutions, working at the intersection of law, finance, fintech structuring, strategic growth, and ethical technology regulation. She has worked with governments and private sector actors alike, long enough to notice a pattern Africa could no longer afford to ignore.
The problem was never a shortage of innovation. African founders were building. Markets were growing. Talent was abundant. Yet capital often arrived misaligned; impatient where patience was required, extractive where partnership was needed, and poorly integrated with local regulatory realities. Over time, Olufemi-White came to a clear conclusion that Africa did not need more funding. It needed better capital architecture, and Alami Capital was her answer to that gap.
Founded as a transformative investment platform, Alami Capital was designed to connect visionary African entrepreneurs with capital for projects of sovereign importance, particularly across technology, infrastructure, renewable energy, and inclusive growth. The name itself, drawn from Yoruba, means “mark maker,” and reflects a philosophy Olu calls Ad Astra – To the stars. It is a vision rooted in building enterprises and systems capable of sustaining long-term economic value.
In practice, Alami Capital works through investment syndication and fund management, structuring capital in ways that align people, policy, and profit. Notably, governance and regulatory clarity are also central pillars to this establishment. This is why it partners closely with institutions such as NITDA and the SEC, while also collaborating with global organisations including Google, Flutterwave, and the Africa Finance Corporation. These relationships are designed to de-risk innovation, attract blue-chip capital, and strengthen the broader ecosystem in which African businesses operate.
That commitment to structure over symbolism became visible in 2025 at GITEX Nigeria, when Olu led The LaunchPad, an Alami Capital initiative developed with NITDA and the SEC. The programme committed $250,000 in equity funding to women-led startups, alongside mentorship and regulatory support.
As of 2024, Women-led startups received only 2% of total venture capital funding in 2024, despite contributing an estimated 13% to Africa’s GDP. The LaunchPad was not positioned as a charity, but as a corrective effort to build investable pipelines that reflect economic reality.
As a 2025 Harvard Kennedy School Fellow, Olufemi-White’s research focuses on epistemic sovereignty, data rights, and preventing the exploitation of African innovation within global technology systems. On global stages such as GITEX’s Future Economy Conference, she speaks about artificial intelligence, big data, and inclusive governance with measured urgency.
