Investment perspective. Core strategy. African focus.
Volta Partners is an advisory and intelligence firm focused on impact investment and development in Africa. We work with development finance institutions, investors, financial institutions, governments, and businesses to develop investment opportunities, deliver programs, and strengthen business performance.
Founder-led and established in Lagos, Volta brings together experience in institutional finance, commercial strategy, and implementation. We build teams around the demands of each assignment, combining senior leadership with the specialist and local expertise the work requires.
Connecting investment ambition with the work required to deliver it
Investment ambitions depend on practical conditions: sponsors able to develop viable opportunities, institutions equipped to deploy capital, and businesses with the capabilities to grow. Financing, commercial performance, and implementation need to advance together.
Volta works across these connected needs. We help sponsors prepare investment opportunities, support institutions in designing and delivering programs, and work with businesses to strengthen performance and prepare for investment. We bring commercial viability and development objectives into the same conversation, then help clients work through the decisions and delivery requirements that follow.
Senior involvement from the first discussion through delivery
Each assignment has a senior lead responsible for the work and the client relationship. We agree the scope, team, and delivery responsibilities at the outset, and bring in specialists according to the sector, market, and technical demands of the assignment. Senior advisers remain involved in the analysis, decisions, and implementation.
We work closely with client teams and the institutions, businesses, and partners whose participation is needed. We examine the assumptions behind an assignment, identify the issues that could affect its outcome, and give a clear view of the options. Where the evidence points to a different approach, we explain why and help the client work through the implications.
Experience across institutional finance, business strategy, and operations
Our senior team brings experience from investment, advisory, and operations roles at international financial institutions, alongside commercial strategy and business transformation work with companies and investors. That combination informs how we approach an assignment: understanding what an institution needs to finance or support, what management needs to execute, and how the work will operate in its market.
Our work spans Anglophone and Francophone Africa, with delivery in English and French. Volta Partners is founded and headquartered in Lagos.
Leadership and expertise
Meet the senior team and advisers whose experience informs our work across investment, business performance, and development.
David Gabriel
David brings more than 20 years of experience in development finance, management consulting, and investment banking, including roles at IFC and the World Bank, assignments with the African Development Bank, and growth strategy work with a global strategy firm. His work spans project development, transaction structuring, technical advisory, capacity building, and business strategy for companies and investment portfolios.
Ope Onibokun
Former Investment Director at British International Investment, with earlier roles at Investec and the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund. Has led the financing of strategic port infrastructure and brings deep experience in structuring and closing infrastructure transactions.
Akinseye Akinola
More than 20 years across investment banking, private equity, and fintech, with roles at UBS, Emerging Capital Partners, Vantage Capital, and Standard Bank.
Kayode Odeleye
Former Director of Leveraged Finance Africa at Standard Chartered and Partner at 23mile Capital, with experience across acquisition finance, structured credit, and capital raising for African corporates.
Bowale Odumade Adeoye
Fifteen years at Africa Finance Corporation leading more than 20 investments across power, renewables, logistics, and transport, following earlier roles at GE Capital and Chevron.
Dolapo Popoola
Former Managing Director of a state power supply company in Nigeria, where he led major solar deployment. Member of UNECA Team Africa Energy. Works in seven languages.
Ted Joshua Macharia
Former Senior Investment Manager at Dalberg Capital Partners, structuring blended finance across education, agriculture, insurance, and climate.
Fary Gueye
SME investment readiness across Francophone and Anglophone Africa, including readiness diagnostics for more than 25 SMEs under development finance programs. Founder of Miradi.
Oladipupo Shotonwa
Sustainability and ESG specialist working on sustainable finance implementation, climate risk, and environmental and social frameworks for financial institutions.
Dr. Tobi Oluwatola
Nearly two decades of work across four continents. Founder of a minigrid technology company and former policy analyst at RAND, with experience in renewable energy and public-private partnerships.
Start a conversation
Tell us about the investment, program, or business you are working on and the decisions ahead. We can discuss the expertise required and where Volta can contribute.
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