The 5 most popular stories on Africa Private Equity News the past week
Here are summaries of the five most widely read stories the past week on Africa Private Equity News.
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Here are summaries of the five most widely read stories the past week on Africa Private Equity News.
1. Old Mutual Private Equity buys stake in Honoris; Actis exits
Old Mutual Private Equity, a unit of Old Mutual Alternative Investments, has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Honoris United Universities, the pan-African private higher education group. The deal sees Actis exit its investment in the company.
Actis, a global investment firm, launched Honoris to bring together institutions across Africa and expand access to private higher education. The network has more than 100,000 students in 26 cities and includes 16 institutions, ranging from universities to specialised schools and technical and vocational institutes, with both in-person and online teaching. Read the full article
2. AgDevCo makes follow-on investment in equipment leasing company
Specialist agricultural investor AgDevCo has announced a $7.2 million follow-on investment, a structured long-term loan, into its longstanding portfolio company, EFAfrica Group (EFAG).
EFAG is an equipment leasing company focused on small and medium-sized enterprises and farmers in Africa. The company serves over 1,500 entrepreneurs across Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia, many of whom lack the formality and collateral requirements sought by banks. Popular leases include trucks, tractors and other agricultural equipment, with a typical value of between $10,000 and $80,000. Read the full article
3. Refrigeration company raises $11m from Aruwa Capital, KawiSafi Ventures, others
Koolboks – an Africa-focused renewable energy refrigeration company – has closed an $11 million Series A funding round. Lead investors were KawiSafi Ventures and Aruwa Capital, which also led Koolboks’ seed round in November 2021.
Other participants included All On as an equity investor, while FCMB, FFEM and Bpifrance provided debt financing. FFEM and Bpifrance’s contribution will fund the company’s first assembly plant in Nigeria. The round was further supported by grants from FFEM/AFD, PREO (co-funded by UK aid and the IKEA Foundation), Efficiency for Access and Innovate UK. Results-based financing came from BGFA in Uganda, CEI Africa and the Shell Foundation. Read the full article
4. Prosus leads $12.5m Series A round
Intella, a provider of dialectal Arabic speech intelligence, has raised $12.5 million in an oversubscribed Series A round led by Prosus, with participation from 500 Global, Wa’ed Ventures, Hala Ventures, Idrisi Ventures and HearstLab, the investment arm of Hearst Corporation. The company has offices in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
The funding will accelerate Intella’s mission to power a digital AI workforce across the Arabic-speaking world. With this new funding, Intella is doubling down on R&D, product expansion, and regional hiring to bring its vision to life. Read the full article
5. Swedfund appoints new regional director for East Africa
Swedfund, Sweden's development finance institution, has appointed Siongo Kisoso as its new regional director for East Africa.
"With over 16 years of experience in banking, corporate finance, and investments, he brings a wealth of knowledge and a deep understanding of the region’s opportunities and challenges – experience that will help guide our efforts and strategy to increase our support for sustainable growth in East Africa," Swedfund said in a statement. Read the full article
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