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. AgDevCo secures $90m in DFI funding
AgDevCo, the specialist investor in early-stage African agribusinesses, announced a $90 million package of new funding from the CDC Group ($50 million equity), Norfund ($20 million equity) and DFC ($20 million senior debt) which will allow AgDevCo to continue to grow its investment activities in agriculture across sub-Saharan Africa. This is in addition to the announcement of supplementary funding of up to $5.4 million from CDC, Norfund and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) for AgDevCo’s integrated technical assistance facility.
Established in 2009, AgDevCo’s vision is a thriving commercial African agriculture sector that benefits people, economies, and the environment. The organisation contributes to this goal by providing investment capital and technical assistance to grow sustainable and impactful businesses across the agricultural value chain.
2. Bank of America invests in the Agri-Business Capital Fund
The Agri-Business Capital Fund (ABC Fund) announced that it had received its first investment from a corporate global financial institution, as Bank of America deployed $5 million.
The ABC Fund is a blended-finance impact fund investing in smallholder farmers and small-to-medium sized rural agribusinesses in developing countries to support sustainable and inclusive agricultural value chains. Through its activities, the ABC Fund aims to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers with a particular focus on women and young people.
So far, more than 20 investments have been made in nine countries – Benin, Bolivia Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ecuador, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, and Uganda. With more impact-yielding investments in the pipeline, it is expected that other private sector actors will follow suit.
3. Impact fund completes Afribon exit to Kerry Group
Impact fund I&P Afrique Entrepreneurs 2 (IPAE2), managed by Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P), has transferred its shares in Afribon to the Kerry Group, a global leader in the development of taste and nutrition solutions for the food, beverage and pharmaceutical markets.
The pan-African group Afribon, founded in 2012 by Julien Giuge and Anne Merienne, specialises in the development and blending of custom and locally produced food flavours, sold mainly to beverage, candy and dairy manufacturers. Afribon has five production facilities in East Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania) and one in Cameroon.
IPAE 2 invested in the company in 2018, helping it strengthen and diversify its activities.
4. Kenyan based B2B platform raises $40m series A funding
MarketForce, the Nairobi-headquartered B2B platform for retail distribution of consumer goods and digital financial services in Africa, has announced the closing of a $40 million series A round.
The round was led by V8 Capital Partners – a London and Lagos based African-focused investment vehicle – with participation from Ten13 VC, SOSV Select Fund, Vu Ventures, Vastly Valuable Ventures and Uncovered Fund, along with a number of existing investors: Reflect Ventures, Greenhouse Capital, Century Oak Capital and Remapped Ventures. Ken Njoroge, co-founder and former CEO of Cellulant, also participated in the round and joins the board as chairman. The oversubscribed round was made up of equity and debt.
5. Janngo fund receives additional investment from EIB
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has announced an additional €10 million first-loss equity investment in the Janngo Capital Start-up Fund.
This investment complements a previous €15 million commitment signed by the EIB in December 2020.
Janngo Capital Start-up Fund will provide seed and growth investments to early-stage tech and tech-enabled startups that 1) enable Africans to improve their access to essential goods and services such as healthcare, education or financial services, 2) enable African SMEs to improve their access to markets and capital, and 3) create sustainable jobs at scale, with a focus on women and youth.
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