Ep 1 - The Tea of Private Equity with Adesuwa Okunbo - Rhodes
For our first episode, we are in conversation with Adesuwa Okunbo - Rhodes, Black Female Founding Partner & MD at a PE firm.
The first thing you would notice about Adesuwa is her confidence. An innate knowledge of who she is and the value she brings to the table. In this conversation, we discussed her background and her pathway into finance that has now led her to Partner & MD of a Private Equity firm at only 28 years old. She spoke passionately about the wins she secured through persistence but also about some of the challenges associated with being the trifecta of female, black and young. She has however come through with Faith, her wonderful husband and supportive family, the 3 things that anchor her.
Watch/ListeN to this Episode
Key Takeaways from our conversation
Let your interests fuel your academic and professional choices
Persistently chase after what you want
Understand your why and position yourself for your purpose
Speak up! – Always articulate your value
Own your age
About Adesuwa
Adesuwa Okunbo is the Partner & Managing Director of Syntaxis Capital Africa. She founded the firm in 2014 in partnership with Syntaxis Capital and is responsible for the firm's investment activities in Nigeria and Sub Saharan Africa.
Prior to Syntaxis Africa, she was in the Leveraged Finance team at J.P. Morgan, involved in $3.6 billion worth of transactions across emerging markets, including in Africa. Prior to joining the Leveraged Finance team, Adesuwa was in the Client Coverage and Mergers and Acquisition covering companies in the Diversified Industries & Consumer, Healthcare & Retail teams, working on transactions totalling just over $2 billion.
Prior to J.P. Morgan, Adesuwa worked in an Africa-focused private equity at TLG Capital as an investment professional, involved in transactions across Anglophone Africa including a successful investment in Uganda where she personally invested. Adesuwa started her career at Lehman Brothers in 2008 and holds a BSc in Economics from the University of Bristol.