One of the few female CEOs investing in emerging markets with more than $1 billion in AUM, Alam leads an investment firm that delivers top-quartile performance focused on African growth companies. In the conversation, Alam detailed the firm’s origins, and the challenges faced raising capital in her early days when most investors failed to see the opportunities in Africa. Alam’s first fund, which totaled $122.5 million, took three challenging years to close. Yet through her skills and knowledge of the continent, that fund returned 35% net IRR. Her history of outperformance resulted in pension funds, endowments, foundations, and sovereign wealth funds supporting later funds. DPI’s Fund III recently closed at an oversubscribed $900 million.