The Makeda Fund was jointly established by SEAF and NOI Consulting who shared a common mission of supporting development of small businesses in emerging markets and possessed complementary strengths.

SEAF is a New York-based non-profit organization which manages various private equity funds targeting small and medium businesses located in emerging markets globally. It operates by providing growth capital and operation support to businesses in emerging markets which often have difficulty in obtaining access to expansion capital. SEAF selectively makes structured debt and equity investments via its diverse funds in various businesses in Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America and Asia.

NOI Consulting was founded in 2006 by Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and provides business and financial advisory services to both local and foreign firms operating in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala was previously Minister of Finance and Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Nigerian Government for the period 2003-2006. She left NOI Consulting in December 2007 to serve as Managing Director of the World Bank.