DEG commits €15m to African tech fund

German development finance institution DEG has committed €15 million to the Partech Africa Fund II (PAF II), a fund managed by Partech Partners. The venture capital fund will concentrate on investments in fast-growing technology companies all over Africa, including Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, Kenya and Senegal.

Other investors in the PAF II fund include anchor investor KfW, the European Investment Bank, the IFC and European development finance institutions FMO, BII and Proparco.

Carola Bose, head of DEG’s equity Africa department commented, “With our investment in PAF II, we are providing valuable support to the African technology and venture capital ecosystem. We are helping to bridge funding gaps for African technology companies until they are large enough to team up with, for instance, private investors or to go public. Further, we are excited to add Partech as first African fund to our global tech fund portfolio. The Partech team has already made successful investments like Francophone Africa’s first unicorn, Wave, and through the predecessor fund it is implementing high ESG standards in the companies it finances.”