Catalyst Fund's Toyin Emmanuel-Olubake on Investing in Africa's Energy Future

Toyin Emmanuel-Olubake, Chief Investment Officer at Catalyst Fund, brings over two decades of experience navigating Africa’s dynamic financial landscape. From investment banking to venture capital and private equity, Toyin has advised on some of the continent’s most transformative deals. In a recent conversation with PowerLabs, he shared his perspective on what makes an exceptional founder and how investors should rethink their approach to early-stage climate tech.

One key insight from Toyin: technical expertise alone isn’t enough. The true transition in investing comes down to mindset - shifting from a transactional focus to embracing ownership and long-term value creation. He notes that this shift can be more challenging moving from private equity to impact investing than the other way around.

Toyin’s preference for pre-seed and seed investments stems from his belief that investors can have the greatest influence at these early stages - helping founders reduce their learning curve and build sustainable businesses. While pattern matching with past successes matters, he emphasizes it accounts for only 30-40% of his decision-making process.

The remaining 60-70% is where Toyin focuses on founder-market fit and founder-solution fit - assessing not only the market opportunity but whether this particular founder is uniquely positioned to solve this problem. He looks for individuals who can articulate a compelling vision, build high-quality teams, and ultimately sell their solution to customers.

With structural shifts creating new opportunities in Nigeria’s energy sector and across Africa, Toyin’s pragmatic approach offers valuable guidance for investors seeking to back the next generation of climate tech leaders.