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TLcom Hosts Africa Female Founder Summit in Lagos

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TLcom Capital, the Africa-focussed venture capital firm, on Tuesday held its inaugural Africa Tech Female Founder Summit.

Launched to build a collaborative network of Africa’s female tech founders, over 50 female founders from across Africa including, Odunayo Eweniyi of Piggyvest, Isis Nyong’o of Mum’s Village, Vivien Nwakah of Medsaf and Miishe Addy of Jet Stream, took to the stage to share insights on achieving massive value generation and scale in Africa. Senior female executives from TLcom’s portfolio companies including Twiga Foods, Kobo360, Terragon, Andela, and Ajua were also in attendance.

The keynote speaker for the Summit was Funke Opeke, founder and CEO of MainOne, who delivered an inspirational talk on her career journey. She stated, “A clear message that should be taken away from the Summit is that the glass ceiling on female leadership can and will be broken.

“For incoming and incumbent women in our sector, today is a powerful display of what is possible throughout Africa’s tech scene. We had entrepreneurs from a variety of fields but what we all shared were common experiences and a shared vision for change.

“However, its critical we take our learnings back into our respective networks and share them with the next generation. It’s only then that we will begin to see real transformation.”

During the event, interactive sessions were held on the ever-changing role of the founder, the fundraising journey and attracting and retaining talent. The Summit also featured an in-depth fireside chat between the company’s Senior Partner, Omobola Johnson and Iris Shoor, serial entrepreneur and CEO of Israeli tech startup, Oribi.

Reflecting on the event, Omobola Johnson, Senior Partner at TLcom said, “While female participation in tech has generally improved, female tech founders are still a rare breed. However, there is a growing number of female trailblazers in African tech and we at TLcom believe this is a critical network to nurture and support.”

Andreata Muforo, Partner at TLcom, also added that “With our senior team currently 50% female, supporting diversity is already part of our DNA and with events such as the Africa Tech Female Founder Summit, our team does and will continue to dedicate resources to mentoring female founders.”

With plans in place to hold the Summit on an annual basis, TLcom also announced their push to encourage more of their portfolio companies to boost female representation in their organisations.

As the most active VC in Africa in 2018 (according to the EMPEA), the event is an additional display of the company’s commitment to being an on-the-ground presence in African tech.

Earlier this year, TLcom was also presented with the “Specialist Investor Award” at the 2019 Private Equity Africa Awards and participated in Kobo360’s recent $30mn Series A fundraise and Twiga’s $30m Series B fundraise – two of the largest in African tech this year.

Launched in 1999, the 20-year old Venture Capital firm manages total commitments of approximately 300 million USD. Based in Kenya, Nigeria and the UK, the company has developed a broad portfolio ranging from agriculture, data analytics and logistics, focussing exclusively on technology-enabled services and innovation for SSA, across all stages of the venture capital cycle.


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DBN Awards N13m in Grants to Tech Startups

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Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) has awarded a total of N13 million in grants to three standout tech startups at the 2025 Techpreneur Summit held in Lagos, reinforcing its commitment to innovation and inclusive growth among Nigeria’s micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

DBN Awards N13m in Grants to Tech Startups

The winners include: BuyScrap, a digital marketplace for recyclable materials – N6 million; Qiqi Farms, which connects local farmers to hospitality and export markets – N4 million; Eco-Cyclers, a youth-led recycling initiative based in Enugu – N3 million

Alongside the grant awards, DBN also launched a new digital data asset, a first-of-its-kind platform aimed at enabling data-driven decisions within the MSME ecosystem.

The platform offers deep insights into business trends, sector-specific challenges, and growth opportunities—supporting smarter policymaking and targeted investments.

In his keynote address in Lagos, Tony Okpanachi, managing director/ CEO, DBN,   described the event’s theme, “CTRL + SHIFT: Tech Empowered Movement for Naija,” as a strategic call to reimagine enterprise development in Nigeria.

“This isn’t just a keyboard shortcut,” he said. “It’s a mindset reset—powered by technology—to build a more inclusive, innovative, and resilient business landscape. From financing to innovation, DBN remains committed to enabling MSMEs to thrive.”

Okpanachi emphasized that the Summit aligns with DBN’s AMPLIFI Strategy, which integrates digital transformation, sustainability, and scalability into its core programs.

He highlighted initiatives such as the Digital Shift Workshops and the Eco-Innovation Challenge as key steps toward embedding innovation in Nigeria’s MSME sector.

Encouraging young innovators, he added: “The future belongs to those bold enough to imagine and build it. DBN is proud to support the ideas that will shape tomorrow.”

A major highlight was the unveiling of the DBN Data Asset—a digital platform designed to provide real-time, evidence-based insights into Nigeria’s MSME landscape.

The platform combines DBN’s proprietary data with external sources like the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to offer a comprehensive view of MSME performance by region and sector.

Jeremy Dan Okayi, DBN’s Head of Strategy, Policy & Innovation, described the platform as: “A reservoir of insight, potential, and direction—built on two years of collaboration and shared vision. This tool will support informed decision-making across the public and private sectors.”


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FCCPC Shuts France, Belgium, and Italy Visa Centres in Abuja Over Alleged Consumer Rights Violations

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In a bold enforcement action, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), supported by the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), has sealed off the visa application centres of France, Belgium, and Italy in Abuja over alleged consumer protection breaches and obstruction of regulatory investigations.

The affected centres—located at Mukhtar El-Yakub House in the Central Business District and operated by TLS Contact, a Teleperformance Company—were shut down following reports that they refused to accept formal correspondence from the FCCPC regarding a consumer complaint. The Commission cited further infractions, including obstruction of investigation and alleged assault of its officers during lawful duties.

Speaking to journalists at the scene, Mrs. Boladale Adeyinka, Director of Surveillance and Investigations at the FCCPC, explained: “This is an enforcement operation against TLS. On March 25, 2025, we served them a letter to address a consumer complaint, which they refused to accept. Instead, TLS officers assaulted our team, and in a subsequent visit on June 17, they also allegedly assaulted uniformed police officers.”

Citing Section 33 of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA), Mrs. Adeyinka emphasized that failure to comply with Commission directives constitutes a criminal offense, punishable by imprisonment, fines of up to ₦20 million, or both.

TLS has been ordered to appear before the Commission on June 20, 2025, to provide testimony, submit evidence, and make formal depositions. The company may be held liable for any financial losses suffered by applicants due to the disruption of visa services.

Despite multiple requests for comment, management at TLS Contact declined to respond as of press time.


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How and Why N210 Trillion is Missing in NNPCL – CFO

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Adedapo Segun, chief financial officer (CFO), Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), has explained why there is a missing sum of N210 trillion in the company’s audited financial statement spanning from 2017 to 2023.

How and Why N210 Trillion is Missing in NNPCL - CFO

According to Segun, the missing funds are cash calls requested by joint venture (JV) partners and settlement to the JVs.

He spokeat a session of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts chaired by Aliyu Wadada.

Segun was responding to an alarm raised by the committee over missing N210 trillion in NNPCL’s audited financial statement.

Recall that Wadada issued a one-week ultimatum to NNPCL to account for the missing N210 trillion.

Reacting, Segun said, “The N103 trillion and N107 trillion are made up of joint venture cash calls that have been requested by the JV operators and JV cash call payments made by NNPCL, which are yet to be reconciled because governance procedures were not done at that time.

“That is why you see the description reflecting those two items would be washed out because they are two sides of the same transaction, which is the cash calls by JV partners and the settlement by NNPCL.”

However,  Habu Sadeik, a financial analyst, in a post on X on Thursday, said Segun’s response was unsatisfactory.

Saidik faulted NNPCL’s response about the fund discrepancies, noting that something is not right with the audited financial statement.

“Forget about the senators’ lack of knowledge.

“The CFO’s response is not satisfactory. Are you saying that cash calls worth hundreds of trillions are just appearing on your FS only in 2024 without 31 disclosure?

“If it’s a cash call, why hasn’t the disclosure said so?

“Which cash call is over 100 trillion?

“Something is definitely not right, and I hope they retrospectively correct that FS.

“Someone somewhere did a chef’s work,” he wrote on X.

 

 


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