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. Actis to exit Nigerian pension fund administrator
Actis has received regulatory approval to exit its investment in Sigma Pensions, a leading Nigerian pension fund administrator, to First Ally Asset Management (a Lagos-headquartered asset manager) and First Guarantee Pensions Limited (a subsidiary of Access Holdings Plc).
Sigma is a tier one pension fund administrator with contributors across the private, federal and state sectors and a pan-Nigerian branch network. Actis’ partnership with the organisation dates back to 2015, when a majority stake in the company was acquired from the founder, Umaru Modibbo, who has continued to hold a minority stake in the business.
2. DOB Equity backs Rwanda-based digital health insurer
Eden Care, a licensed Rwanda-based digital insurer, has completed a pre-seed funding round from DOB Equity, Seedstars International, Norrsken Foundation, and Bathurst Capital.
The company aims to disrupt the inefficient provision of health insurance in East Africa, with a digital-first solution which saves consumers money by disintermediating insurance brokers.
3. CardinalStone invests in Nigerian healthcare group
West African private equity fund manager, CardinalStone Capital Advisers (CCA), has announced a $6 million investment in AfyA Care as part of the company’s series A capital raise. AfyA Care is a healthcare group providing integrated healthcare services including hospital care, health insurance and health technology services in Nigeria.
The healthcare market in Nigeria is grossly underserved with a patient to bed ratio of 2,000:1 compared to peer average of 1,000:1, and a low health insurance penetration below 5%, according to an EY report. AfyA Care is positioned to exploit these market opportunities by first consolidating the Lagos market and then expanding to key cities in Nigeria and West Africa over the next five years. The company will use the funding to improve its experienced talent bench, grow its hospital brands, scale its health maintenance organisation (HMO) and proprietary health tech solutions to transform healthcare delivery in Nigeria and beyond.
4. Mediterrania Capital Partners exits education group
Mediterrania Capital Partners has exited its investment in Groupe Scolaire René Descartes (GSRD), a private educational group headquartered in Tunis.
In January 2018, Mediterrrania Capital Partners through its MC II fund, invested in GSRD with the objective of partnering with the founders to expand the business by increasing the capacity of the existing network and supporting the development of new sites in key locations in Tunisia.
Mediterrania Capital Partners’ exit from GSRD has been executed through an MBO led by GSRD’s management.
5. South Africa: RMB Corvest backs solar service provider
RMB Corvest, a private equity business, has invested in Sedgeley Energy, the exclusive provider of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) and maintenance services to Solar-Saver, owner of the largest fleet of commercial solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in the Southern African region.
Founded in 2016, Sedgeley Energy designs, installs, maintains and monitors solar PV systems for the commercial and industrial sector. More specifically, Sedgeley Energy has developed a specialised ‘rent-to-own’ solar solution and has established a number of Solar-Saver vehicles to fund installations together with its long-term investment partners. Customers are offered a capex-free solution with the initial layout funded through Solar-Saver against a monthly charge for use of the solar PV system. Key Solar-Saver customers operate in the commercial property, retail, manufacturing, tourism and petroleum sectors. Sedgeley Energy also provides Solar-Saver customers with technical support and is known for its solutions-driven approach to projects.