Former Minister to drive Venture Capital firm in WAfrica as Lead Partner

London Venture Capital firm, TLcom has appointed former Minister of Communication and Technology ,Omobola Johnson as it's lead partner to kick off it's West Africa operations.
The focus of the investments, which could range from $500,000 to $10 million, will be on e-commerce, energy, health and education technology startups which have a potential for fast growth.
The firm believes that with Johnson, it has a partner with a track record and understanding of the technology space in the region.

The company,opened its first Africa office in Nairobi, Kenya, two years ago, and is ramping up its investment in African start-ups through its TLcom TIDE (Technology and Innovation for Developing Economies) Africa Fund which could see it raise as much as $100 million.

One of the highlights of her tenure was launching Idea Nigeria, an incubation hub in the heart of Yaba and she was seen to support the growth of local start ups.

Maurizio Caio, TLcom founder, said the focus for the Africa Fund would immediately be on start-ups with high returns potential. "For this cycle, we need to be very merciless in focusing on the highest potential entrepreneurs-to make a point and to demonstrate that high returns are possible," he said.
TLcom's aggressive expansion in search of more tech opportunities in Africa could be a signal fears of investing in African tech companies and achieving profitable exits is abating. Caio said the bigger issue is identifying start-ups with real potential. "If you have a good company, you can exit. It is a not an exit problem-it is a quality of company problem," he added.