Patient money, pooled among people who already trust each other.
Capstron Limited is a registered Nigerian company owned by a small group of founding shareholders. They buy shares, and a board with an investment committee decides where that money goes, then reports back every quarter.
founding shareholders, joining by invitation only.
Incorporated under CAMA 2020
Two signatures on every payment
Independent audit each year
Shareholder reports every quarter
Why Capstron exists
Most of us have put money into a deal that had no rules
In 2016, a group of colleagues pooled about ₦250 million into a transport company that seemed to be growing fast. There was no board, and nobody had to approve spending. Shareholders never saw a set of accounts. Within two years the business had collapsed and the money went with it.
Two people from the same office stayed out. They bought a plot of land instead and built on it in stages.
2016 · The transport deal
₦250m
Many investors, no board
No reporting, no audit
Folded within two years
2016 · The plot of land
₦50m
Two buyers with a plan
Built gradually, paid as they went
Six flats on the land today
Same office, same years. What separated the two outcomes was structure: a plan, and someone holding that plan to account. Capstron is built around that idea, with the checks written into its founding documents from the first day.
Investment mandate
Where the money goes
The board proposes the mix and shareholders vote before it changes. In the first two years most of the capital sits in assets that are easy to value. Private businesses come later, once there is a record to point to.
Real estate
Property in Abuja and Lagos
Residential and commercial buildings in established corridors. No purchase reaches the committee without an independent valuation.
Listed equities
Five to ten dividend-paying companies on the Nigerian Exchange, with some dollar-listed shares to soften naira risk.
Government securities
FGN bonds, treasury bills and money market funds. This part of the portfolio keeps cash on hand.
Private businesses
Minority stakes in well-run Nigerian companies, from the growth phase onward. Each one goes before the full investment committee.
5%
The largest share of the portfolio any single private business can receive when we invest. Going past it needs a committee vote.
Governance
No single person can move the money
Each rule below sits in the shareholders’ agreement or the investment policy. Changing any of them takes a shareholder vote.
01
Board of directors
Four directors with a fiduciary duty to shareholders. They approve every investment above $5,000 and meet at least once a quarter.
02
Investment committee
Three members appointed by the board. Every deployment goes through them, whatever the size, and is checked against the written mandate.
03
Shareholders’ agreement
Drafted by counsel and signed by every founding shareholder. It sets the entry price, exits, transfers, pre-emption and how a deadlock is broken.
04
Two signatures
Two directors must authorise each payment from the company’s accounts, held at a regulated Nigerian bank. Statements go to the full board monthly.
05
External audit
An auditor with no ties to the founders reviews the accounts, valuations and controls each year. The report goes to shareholders as written.
06
Quarterly reports
Every three months each shareholder receives valuations, a transaction log, the cash position and what is in the pipeline.
The plan
Four phases, roughly ten years
Capstron is built to hold for a long time. Founding shareholders commit for at least three years, and the plan runs well past that.
2026–27
Foundation Underway
The company is incorporated. Next, all ten founding shareholders sign, the first property is bought, the equity book is started and quarterly reporting begins.
2027–30
Growth
The first stake in a private business and the first published audit. From Year 3, shareholders vote each year on whether to take a dividend or reinvest.
2030–33
Formalisation
With a documented track record, the company looks at registering a fund manager with the SEC and opening a first fund to outside investors.
2033 on
A private equity firm
A licensed firm with an ethical investment mandate and an Africa-wide deal team. Founding shareholders become limited partners in its funds.
Investor access
Start with a conversation
Capstron does not take money from the general public. If a director or founding shareholder has spoken to you about joining, send us a note. We will reply by email and, where it makes sense, share the password to the investor page.
