Renaissance Capital enhances foothold in Fintech, strengthens African research team

To deepen its foothold in the Fintech industry, Renaissance Capital, one of the leading emerging and frontier markets investment banks, recently hired two new research professionals to its Africa tech/fintech and banks research and venture-investing teams.

Yusuf Ibrahim joined the Firm as an Analyst on the Africa private markets tech/fintech research and venture investing team.

Earlier in August, Douye Mac-Yoroki joined Renaissance Capital as an Analyst on the listed frontier / SSA banks and fintech research team.

While both joiners will be based in Lagos and will report to Adesoji Solanke, Director, Frontier / SSA Banks & Fintech Equity Research at Renaissance Capital, who also drives the Firm’s Africa tech/fintech research and venture investing efforts, the company said Douye will assist Oluwatoyosi Oni, frontier / SSA banks and fintech research analyst, on listed banks and fintech research coverage in frontier/SSA markets.

“We are happy to welcome Douye and Yusuf and add fresh young talent to our team. Fintech is the fastest-growing sector in the Africa tech space today, attracting significant funding and creating tremendous economic value,” Adesoji Solanke, Director, Frontier / SSA Banks & Fintech Equity Research, Renaissance Capital, said.

According to Solanke, Renaissance Capital already boasts established expertise with a dedicated and award-winning Africa financials/fintech team, covering 20+ listed and pre-IPO companies.

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“Most recently, we were happy to arrange a specialist Nigeria Tech / Fintech Conference on 9 September. The event was a great success, evincing considerable investor interest in the sector. We held marathon discussions across eight panels that covered key facets of the mushrooming industry. As a Firm, we have decided to double down on the Africa tech and fintech space, active in advisory, research and venture investing. We will lead with knowledge and transparency to help reduce the friction with sourcing equity or debt capital for tech companies, and drive exits, mergers and acquisitions by connecting entrepreneurs with financiers and strategic investors around the world,” Solanke said.

Yusuf joined from The Chrysalis Advisors, where he was a Junior Associate involved in the advisory and capital-raising processes for payment infrastructure, agency banking and third-party logistics start-ups, amongst other things. He previously worked as an Investment Banking Analyst at AVA Capital Partners Limited and as an Investor Relations and Strategy Analyst at Prosperis Holdings Company Limited.

Yusuf was awarded the CFA Access Scholarship and is an Associate Chartered Accountant. He graduated from the University of Lagos with a first-class bachelor’s degree in Economics, and from Yaba College of Technology with a diploma in Accountancy.

Before joining Renaissance Capital, Douye worked for Investment One Financial Services as an Equity Research Analyst. His responsibilities included creating and updating detailed financial and valuation models, co-designing and advising on the investment team’s initiative to grow foreign equity market exposures and sell-side coverage across various banking, industrial and oil & gas companies, with detailed opinions and recommendations for institutional and retail clients.

Douye is a CFA Level II candidate. He graduated from the London School of Economics with a graduate diploma in Economics, and from Crawford University with a bachelor’s degree in Economics.