Surayyah Ahmad 2026 Speakers
Managing Partner , Sabou Capital
“Surayyah Ahmad is an impact investor and fund builder focused on unlocking capital for high-growth enterprises across Africa. She is Managing Partner of Sabou Capital, which provides funding and technical support to high-growth SMEs in West and Central Africa through a gender lens.
She also leads the operationalisation of the Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Bank (YEIB Investment Funds) as Taskmaster — a $300m blended capital vehicle conceptualised by the African Development Bank and co-owned by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and the Development Bank of Nigeria, designed to deliver financial and technical assistance to youth-led enterprises through wholesale and retail financing.
Surayyah serves as a Director on the Board of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) and chairs the Laidlaw Foundation Women in Business Board. She holds an MBA from the University of Oxford, specialising in finance and impact investing, where she also co-chaired the Oxford Africa Business Alliance.
An experienced operator, Surayyah founded and successfully exited an e-commerce and fulfilment company spanning Nigeria and the UK. She is a passionate advocate for women’s economic empowerment and for driving development in underserved markets through private enterprise and investment.”
