The Bank of Industry has signed a $170.06 million funds management contract with Kuramo Capital Management under the Nigerian government’s Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (iDICE) programme.

In a statement on Wednesday, the BOI managing director, Olasupo Olusi, said the ‘Fund of Funds’ had a minimum size of $170.06 million, making it the largest fund under the $617 million iDICE programme.

Mr Olusi said, “Kuramo Capital emerged as the manager of the Fund of Funds component of the iDICE programme. With a minimum fund size of $170 million, the Fund of Funds is the largest fund under the programme. Nigeria is setting a continental benchmark for sovereign commitment to the innovation and creative economy through this fund.

“By investing in Ventures Platform’s Fund II, and now by establishing the DICE Fund of Funds with Kuramo Capital, we are deepening the Federal Government’s objective of upscaling Nigeria’s technology and creative sectors by catalysing strategic investments in high-growth, technology-enabled enterprises. The Bank of Industry is proud to be the executing agency driving this historic investment into the hands of Nigeria’s innovators.”

According to him, the iDICE programme is co-financed by the African Development Bank, the French Development Agency, the Islamic Development Bank, and BOI, which also serves as the implementing agency.

”iDICE is one of Africa’s most ambitious and structured interventions in the technology and creative economy and is designed to unlock entrepreneurship, stimulate innovation, create sustainable jobs, and drive economic transformation.

“Nigeria’s technology and creative sectors are arguably among the most dynamic on the continent, yet they remain underserved by formal venture capital, particularly at pre-seed and seed stages, where the funding gap is highly required.

“The iDICE Fund of Funds shall address this structural gap directly by institutionalising and accelerating that trajectory at scale by investing in various funds that ultimately support start-ups in these sectors with capital,” he said.

He explained that in 2025, iDICE made an initial $64 million investment in the Ventures Platform Fund with co-investors including the IFC, the Standard Bank of South Africa, Proparco and British International Investment.

He, however, said the selection was only the beginning, and charged Kuramo to deliver the mandate with professionalism, transparency and urgency and warned that every delayed close and missed milestone has a cost, not just financially but in the lives of entrepreneurs waiting for capital.

The BOI chief added that ”the integrity of the fund is tied directly to Nigeria’s credibility in the global investor community, and urged Kuramo to deploy its networks and capital-raising capabilities from day one”.

He described the signing as a rare moment that economic historians will look back on as a turning point for Nigeria’s technology and creative ecosystems. He said the federal government had made an unprecedented commitment to invest in innovators and creatives, while international partners had co-financed with confidence.

(NAN)