The 5 most popular stories on Africa Private Equity News this week
Here are summaries of the five most widely read stories this week on Africa Private Equity News.
1. Norrsken22 announces first close of African tech fund
Thirty unicorn founders are backing African tech entrepreneurs through Norrsken22, a new $200 million tech growth fund that will invest in exceptional entrepreneurs building Africa’s new tech giants.
The Norrsken Foundation, founded by Klarna co-founder Niklas Adalberth, has teamed up with Hans Otterling, partner at Northzone, and an investment team led by Natalie Kolbe, previous global head of private equity at Actis in South Africa, Actis colleague Ngetha Waithaka in Kenya, and Lexi Novitske, prior founder of Acuity Venture Partners in Nigeria, to launch the Norrsken22 Africa Tech Growth Fund. The fund announced its first close of $110 million.
The fund is backed by 30 unicorn founders, contributing their entrepreneurial skills and $65 million in funding. Among them are Olugbenga Agboola, co-founder of Flutterwave; Niklas Zennström, co-founder of Skype; Jacob de Geer, co-founder of iZettle; Niklas Östberg, co-founder of Delivery Hero; Carl Manneh, co-founder of Mojang; Sebastian Knutsson, co-founder of King and Willard Ahdritz, founder Kobalt Music. The fund is also backed by SEB Pension Foundation and family offices, who share the Norrsken22 vision of scalable entrepreneurship as a driver of long-term and sustainable economic growth across Africa.
2. Enko Capital exits Nigerian insurance company
Enko Capital Managers (ECM), managers of the Enko Africa Private Equity Fund (EAPEF), has exited its investment in Law Union Rock Insurance (LUR), a Nigerian mid-size general insurance company listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
Lagos-based private equity fund, Verod Capital bought the entire share capital of LUR through its investment vehicle Kanuri LUR after shareholders of LUR accepted their offer of NGN1.23 per share.
EAPEF made its initial investment in LUR in 2017 via a subscription to a special rights issue and the agreement for its exit was reached at LUR’s 51st annual general meeting held in September 2020. LUR shareholders approved the disposal of the company to Verod in the context of a new regulatory regime requiring insurance companies to increase their minimum capital from NGN3 billion to NGN10 billion by NAICOM’s deadline of December 31st, 2021. The acquisition of 100% of LUR by Verod is a consolidation play in the Nigerian insurance sector aimed at meeting these revised minimum capital thresholds and follows Verod’s earlier acquisitions of Metropolitan Life and ARM Life Insurance.
3. Egypt: IFC commits $20m to PE fund manager
The IFC has announced an investment in a private equity fund managed by Ezdehar Management, a private equity fund manager focused on Egypt.
IFC’s $20 million investment in the Ezdehar Mid-Cap Fund II (EMF II) brings the fund’s total commitments to $168 million at first close. EMF II will invest in businesses across important growth sectors in Egypt, including consumer and retail, business services, education, healthcare, and manufacturing.
Other international investors supporting the fund are the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries, CDC Group, the Egyptian-American Enterprise Fund, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank, and FMO.
4. Metier and Catalyst announce strategic partnership
Metier Private Equity International and Catalyst Principal Partners LLC announced their intention to establish a strategic partnership, aimed at establishing a leading pan-African fund manager. This is consistent with Metier’s ambition of expanding its pan-African footprint and Catalyst’s aspiration of evolving from a leading regional fund manager into a broader pan-African platform.
The transaction involves Metier’s appointment as manager of Catalyst Fund I and Catalyst Fund II, East African focused private equity funds established by Catalyst with $123 million funds under management (2011 vintage) and $155 million funds under management (2016 vintage), respectively. Catalyst will continue to provide investment and portfolio management capability to Metier.
5. Nairobi-based food distributor attracts investors
DOB Equity together with Elea Foundation and A to Z Impact have invested in Kwanza Tukule, a Nairobi-based last-mile distribution business that supplies informal food vendors with staple foods to cook meals for their customers.
Kwanza Tukule was founded in 2019 by Khadija Mohamed Churchill after she identified an opportunity to create a more efficient last-mile distribution system for the informal vendors based in densely populated areas in Nairobi. The total number of food vendors in Nairobi is estimated to be around 50,000 and this is the market Kwanza Tukule is tapping into.
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