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The Bank of Industry (BOI) has appointed Kuramo Capital Management as Fund Manager of the DICE Fund of Funds, an investment vehicle under Nigeria’s Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (iDICE) programme. 

The fund is structured to achieve a minimum capitalisation of $170.6 million, with the Federal Government contributing $85.3 million as anchor investment and Kuramo mandated to raise matching private-sector capital.

The DICE Fund of Funds represents one of the largest government-backed investments in Africa’s technology and creative sectors. It will deploy capital through indirect investments in venture capital and micro-venture capital funds, ensuring coverage across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. 

The fund targets a net internal rate of return of 20% and a net money multiple of 2.4x, with the government’s junior tranche acting as 30% first-loss capital to de-risk the structure and attract private investors.

“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,” said MD/CEO of BOI, Olasupo Olusi.

Kuramo Capital CEO Wale Adeosun said Nigeria is demonstrating that a government can be both a serious anchor investor and a credible market-builder.

Vice President Kashim Shettima congratulated BOI and Kuramo, describing the milestone as “a leap forward in the determined efforts of the Government of Nigeria, under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to unleash the full potential of Nigeria’s young people in line with the Renewed Hope agenda.”

The iDICE programme, co-financed by the African Development Bank, Agence Française de Développement, and the Islamic Development Bank, is Nigeria’s most ambitious intervention in the digital economy and creative industries. It has already achieved milestones such as Nigeria’s first direct government investment in a private venture capital fund – Ventures Platform’s $64 million Pan-African Fund II – and has launched initiatives like the iDICE Startup Bridge, which is training 185 founders in its first cohort.

The programme is also revamping digital and creative hubs at 66 institutions nationwide and has rolled out $110 million in debt financing for startups in the technology and creative sectors.

For Nigerian entrepreneurs, the DICE Fund of Funds signals a structural shift in the availability of early-stage capital. By combining direct startup investments with indirect allocations through established venture capital managers, the fund creates multiple pathways for founders across the country, reducing reliance on foreign venture capital and broadening access to domestic institutional funding.