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CardinalStone Capital Advisers is lining up a new $120 million private equity fund to invest in small and medium-sized businesses across West Africa, betting that the region’s next wave of growth will come from companies that are big enough to scale but still struggle to access long-term capital.
The firm says the vehicle, Growth Fund II, will target established SMEs in Nigeria and Ghana while widening its scope into francophone markets such as Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal. CardinalStone’s pitch is straightforward: back profitable, fast-growing businesses with patient funding, strengthen operations and governance, then help them expand across borders.
The effort is being driven by Yomi Jemibewon, a co-founder of CardinalStone’s private equity business and one of its managing directors. Known in Nigerian finance circles as an investment banker-turned-investor, Jemibewon has built a reputation around structured deals and hands-on portfolio support.
CardinalStone plans to take minority stakes through equity and equity-linked investments, pairing cash with expertise in strategy, finance and management. The firm is positioning the fund as a generalist vehicle, with a focus on sectors that touch everyday demand and resilient supply chains: consumer goods and services, agribusiness, selected industrial plays and parts of financial services.
A major milestone for the raise could come from development finance. The International Finance Corporation, the private-sector arm of the World Bank Group, is weighing a proposed investment of up to $15 million in the fund, a signal that institutional backers may be looking for broader exposure to West African mid-market companies beyond the headline-grabbing tech ecosystem.
The fund is expected to be domiciled in Mauritius, a structure commonly used for regional investment vehicles because it simplifies cross-border administration for investors and managers. CardinalStone says it intends to prioritize stronger corporate governance, improved reporting and professionalized management — changes that can unlock follow-on financing and make businesses less dependent on founders.
Growth Fund II follows CardinalStone’s first fund, which closed in 2021 at $64 million. That debut fund focused on similar mid-sized businesses, with deal sizes typically in the $5 million to $10 million range, and helped shape the firm’s view of what works: disciplined entry prices, operational upgrades and a clear route to expansion.
