Oikocredit commits to Charm Impact’s Hummingbird One blended finance vehicle
The fund will provide small-ticket loans to early-stage renewable energy and clean cooking companies across sub-Saharan Africa.
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Oikocredit has committed to Hummingbird One, a new blended finance investment vehicle launched by Charm Impact to provide small-ticket loans to early-stage renewable energy and clean cooking companies across sub-Saharan Africa.
Hummingbird One announced its first close at $6.25 million, with commitments from Oikocredit; Dutch Good Growth Fund’s Seed Capital and Business Development facility, managed by Triple Jump; the IKEA Foundation; and the Good Energies Foundation. The vehicle has a target size of $12 million.
The investment vehicle is designed to meet a persistent financing gap in Africa’s energy transition: locally owned, early-stage companies often need loans that are too small for many institutional investors to provide efficiently, but too large or complex for more informal sources of capital. Hummingbird One will provide loans of between $50,000 and $500,000 to renewable energy and clean cooking businesses that are building access to sustainable energy in underserved communities.
Selina Yang, investment officer at Oikocredit, said: “Early-stage companies are essential to a thriving sustainable energy ecosystem in Africa, yet they often fall below the ticket sizes that larger institutions can efficiently support. Oikocredit’s climate vision is to direct capital toward businesses that expand access to sustainable energy, strengthen resilience and support the communities most vulnerable to climate change. Vehicles like Hummingbird One play a critical role in nurturing the next generation of local enterprises that can scale into institutionally bankable, climate-resilient businesses.”
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