A few weeks ago, James Dumoulin of the School of Hard Knocks social media pages was in Nigeria for the first time, and he interviewed some Nigerian billionaires and multimillionaires including Aliko Dangote, Tony Elumelu, and Kola Karim, among others. One of the interviews that really connected with his audience and generated millions of views within a short time was the one he had with Adesuwa Okunbo-Rhodes, a private equity mogul operating out of Nigeria, who he termed “the $80 million woman”.
Adesuwa is the founder and Managing Partner of Aruwa Capital Management. She describes herself on her Instagram Bio as a "Wife and Mother, Faith Driven Investor, Founder of Aruwa Capital, Pioneering gender lens investments in Africa". Prior to founding Aruwa Capital, she had worked at Lehman Brothers, JPMorgan Chase, TLG Capital, and was the Managing Partner & Co-Founder of Syntaxis Capital Africa, a provider of growth capital to SMEs in Nigeria and across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Aruwa Capital, which she leads, currently manages $80 million in Assets Under Management (AUM), and focuses on investing in women-led and women-focused SMEs in Nigeria and Africa at the growth stage, typically writing equity cheques within the $1 million to $3 million range, a band many large players tend to overlook.
Her short interview with James generated a lot of interest and buzz online, and for good reason. In less than two minutes, she shared insights that cut across entrepreneurship, investing, resilience, and even faith. James wanted to know how she got rich, the number one lesson she learnt about money, how she dealt with rejection, and what the world misunderstands about Africa. The exchange was simple, almost casual, yet deeply instructive.
Below is their exchange:
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James: Excuse me, Ma'am. Ma'am, I have a question for you.
Adesuwa: It's okay.
James: I have a channel with 24 million followers. I'm going all over Nigeria asking billionaires how they got rich. How did you get rich?
Adesuwa: I'm in private equity.
James: You're in private equity?
Adesuwa: I am.
James: How long have you been in the business?
Adesuwa: For about 12 years now.
James: What was the most amount of money you made in a single year?
Adesuwa: So we manage about $80 million now.
James: Did you say $80 million?
Adesuwa: $80 million, yeah.
James: Can I interview you for one minute? You manage $80 million. What's the number one money lesson you've learned that you would give to the younger generation?
Adesuwa: So my favourite quote is: “A river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence”. 99% of success is refusing to take no for an answer.
James: So you faced a lot of rejection?
Adesuwa: A lot of rejection... It took me eight years to raise my first fund... Eight years
People always told me that I couldn't make it in private equity because I was young, I was black, and I was a woman.
If someone is not going to give you a seat at that table, create it yourself.
James: Did you go to college?
Adesuwa: Of course I went to university.
James: Do you need a degree to get into private equity?
Adesuwa: Oh no, hell no. You don't need a degree to get into private equity.
James: Why not?
Adesuwa: All you need is human connection.
James: What country are we in right now?
Adesuwa: We're in Nigeria. You're here in Lagos.
James: What is the biggest misconception people around the world have about Africa as a whole?
Adesuwa: So the fear is priced in, but the upside is not. One in four people by 2050 will be African. In 2050, Nigeria will be the third largest country in the world by population. If you're not investing in Africa, you should be.
James: What is the best industry people should be looking to get into right now?
Adesuwa: I'm a big proponent of the informal economy. It's a $1 trillion opportunity.
James: Informal economy?
Adesuwa: So that is the women in the streets that are selling you your milk, your bread, your coke, your water. They don't have a formal bank account, but it's a $1 trillion opportunity.
James: And nobody's talking about it?
Adesuwa: Nobody's talking about it. If you find businesses that are enabling the informal economy, you'll be a billionaire.
James: You're how old today?
Adesuwa: I'm 36.
James: Do you believe in God?
Adesuwa: Of course, I believe in God. I believe in Jesus. Without him and without the doors that He opened, there's nowhere I'm standing here talking to you today.
James: Can I tell you something?
Adesuwa: Tell me
James: You have amazing advice.
Adesuwa: Thank you.
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So much packed in this short interview, which is quite clear and easy to understand. Let's highlight a few of her points below.
Investing as a Path to Wealth
She got rich by founding and running a private equity firm. In simple terms, she built wealth by investing in businesses through her well-crafted investment strategy. In another interview she granted on another platform, she explained that they take up minority stakes in the businesses that meet their investment criteria and hold them for a period of about five years before exiting.
There are some learnings to take from here.
As an investor, you may not own a private equity firm, but you too can invest your money in ownership of small pieces of great businesses through the stock market with a long term holding period. The principle remains the same. You define your strategy and criteria, you identify quality businesses, you enter at a fair price, and you stay invested long enough for value to crystallize.
Notice that she also said she has been in the business for about 12 years now. That alone should reset expectations. Investing is not a get rich quick scheme. Wealth is built patiently, over time, through consistency and compounding. The discipline to stay invested often matters more than the brilliance of the initial decision. Plan to be in the investment game for the long term. You do not get rich overnight by investing, you build and grow wealth over time through compounding.
If you are new to investing in the stock market and would like to know how to go about it, check out these Cowryvest articles:
How to Start Investing in the Nigerian Stock Market: A Guide for Beginners.
Passive Income Investment Options- Dividend Paying Equity (Stocks)
Persistence is a Strategy
One of the most powerful things she said was a simple quote,
"A river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence".
That line captures what many people miss.
A lot of people do not fail because they chose the wrong path. They fail because they did not stay long enough on the right path. The ability to persist, to keep moving even when progress feels slow, is often the real differentiator.
She put it even more bluntly.
"Ninety nine percent of success is refusing to take no for an answer".
If you are building anything meaningful, whether a business, a career, or an investment portfolio, there will be resistance. Progress will not always be linear. To succeed, learn to persist... learn to stay the course. Learn to be tough. Tough times do not last but tough people do. Learn to not take no for an answer.
Rejection is Part of the Process
Despite her background, she faced a lot of rejection in trying to build her business. It took her eight years to raise her first fund.
Rejection is not an exception on the path to success. It is part of it. Everyone will face rejection on their journey to building wealth, and it is not a one off event. It will show up at different stages, in different forms, and often when you least expect it. Whether you are building a business or growing in your career, you will face it and it is not unique to you.
Learn to persist, have your goal right in front of you and pursue it relentlessly. No matter what excuse people make for you to fail, resist it and push forward. And like she said, "If someone is not going to give you a seat at that table, create it yourself". That mindset changes everything. It moves you from waiting for permission to taking initiative. It shifts you from being dependent on validation to being driven by conviction.
Education, Exposure, and Preparation
On the question of education, her response was interesting. She went to university, but she also made it clear that a degree is not a strict requirement to succeed in private equity. In her words, what you really need is human connection.
Beyond degrees and credentials, opportunities often move through people. Relationships open doors, conversations create access, and trust sustains progress. Whether you are raising capital, building a business, or advancing in your career, your ability to connect genuinely with people, understand them, and create value within those relationships can become one of your most important advantages over time.
There is balance here.
In developed markets, there is a growing narrative that formal education is not necessary. In Africa, the context is different, and you have to embrace your reality. University education still provides a meaningful advantage. It expands your thinking, strengthens your profile, and gives you access to networks that can compound over time. If you have the opportunity to get it, it is worth considering.
At the same time, her journey also shows the value of work experience. Before starting her firm, she built her career across multiple global and regional investment institutions. That exposure matters. It sharpens judgment, builds credibility, and prepares you for the realities of entrepreneurship.
There is no single path, but preparation, in whatever form it takes, is rarely wasted.
Africa is the Opportunity
Perhaps the most forward looking part of the conversation was her view on Africa. There is a lot of misconception about Africa and investing in it. It is so real that even Africans prefer to invest outside its borders (in developed economies) if they are opportune to do so, as against investing in their continent. Political instability, currency volatility, infrastructure gaps. These concerns are real, but they are only one side of the story. The other side is growth, demographics, and untapped markets.
By 2050, one in four people in the world will be African. Nigeria alone is projected to become one of the largest countries by population. That scale creates demand, and where there is demand, there is opportunity. Africa is the future. The opportunities are massive.
As Adesuwa said, the informal economy alone is a $1 trillion opportunity and nobody is talking about it.
"If you find businesses that are enabling the informal economy, you'll be a billionaire".
The informal economy is essentially a goldmine. It is easy to overlook this segment because it does not fit into traditional structures, but that is exactly where the opportunity lies. Businesses that enable, formalize, or serve this market are solving real problems at scale.
That is part of the reason we do what we do at Cowryvest - simplify, demystify, and democratize personal finance and investment knowledge across Nigeria and Africa, so more people can participate in the opportunities around them. As Aliko Dangote has often emphasized, foreign investors will only come in and invest in Africa when they see Africans investing in it. Confidence is contagious.
If you are an investor and Africa is not part of your portfolio, you may be missing out on the future. INVEST IN AFRICA!
In Conclusion
In less than two minutes, Adesuwa Okunbo-Rhodes delivered a masterclass that cuts across investing, entrepreneurship, resilience, and perspective.
There is a common thread running through it all. Wealth is rarely accidental. It is built through deliberate action, sustained effort, and a willingness to see opportunities where others see obstacles.
For entrepreneurs, the message is to persist, to embrace rejection as part of the journey, and to create your own opportunities when necessary.
For investors, the message is to think long term, stay disciplined, and pay attention to where real value is being created, even if it is not yet obvious to everyone.
And for all of us, perhaps the simplest takeaway is this. The opportunities we are looking for may not be far away. Sometimes, they are right in front of us, waiting for us to see them clearly and act with conviction. At Cowryvest, we will continue to share insights that help you see these opportunities clearly and act on them with confidence.
To have a better understanding of Stock investment and avoid common mistakes, the following articles will be helpful:
Before You Buy a Stock: What Every Retail Investor Must Understand 1
Before You Buy a Stock: What Every Retail Investor Must Understand 2
Warren Buffett’s Timeless Investment Lessons Every Investor Should Know
To see an updated list of dividends declared by Nigerian publicly listed companies in 2026, check out this article: List of Dividends Declared in 2026 by Nigerian Companies (NGX Update)
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