European LP invests in African Rivers Fund III

After having already invested $5 million in the African Rivers Fund in 2016, Agence Française de Développement (AFD) Group has renewed its support to the XSML management team by investing $10 million in its third fund, African Rivers Fund III (ARF III).

ARF III enables entrepreneurs in the DRC, Uganda and Angola to access the financing and support they need to strengthen and develop their businesses in regions often neglected by investors. This investment by FISEA, an AFD Group facility advised by Proparco, is part of the Choose Africa initiative dedicated to supporting entrepreneurship in Africa.

XSML is an impact fund manager with extensive experience in financing small and medium-sized enterprises in Central Africa.

ARF III aims to invest in SMEs in DRC, Uganda and Angola. With a size of $81 million, the fund will seek to make approximately 35 investments with an average investment size of $2-3 million. ARF III will intervene primarily through vanilla loans, mezzanine debt instruments and minority equity investments. The fund intends to invest in key diversified sectors such as health, retail and agribusiness.

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