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. Bamboo Capital Partners fund receives Swiss backing
The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), responsible for the coordination of Switzerland’s international cooperation, has announced it is investing CHF15 million ($16 million) into the Bamboo-UNCDF Initiative for the Least Developed (BUILD) Fund.
The funding is made in the form of first loss tranche, with a total of CHF9 million (c. $9.9 million) specifically earmarked to support projects in Zambia and Zimbabwe through UNCDF, CHF1 million (c. $1.1 million) allocated to the BUILDER Technical Assistance Facility, as well as CHF 5 million (c. $5.5 million) directly invested into the global BUILD Fund.
The BUILD Fund is a partnership between United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and Bamboo Capital Partners. It is a blended impact finance vehicle designed to support business opportunities that contribute to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in lower income countries primarily in least developed countries (LDCs). The BUILDER Technical Assistance Facility is managed by UNCDF.
The BUILD Fund is also supported by the Government of Luxembourg, Global Affairs Canada (GAC), the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), the Nordic Development Fund (NDF), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and the U.S. Development Finance Corporation (USDFC). The BUILD Fund has raised $49 million of first loss capital so far.
2. Endeavor South Africa announces launch of Harvest Fund III
Endeavor South Africa has announced the launch of Harvest Fund III, set to raise R500 million (c. $27.4 million) to back the most promising South African and African founded tech-enabled businesses that are scaling globally.
Harvest Fund III builds on the success of Harvest Fund II, which raised R190 million (c. $10.4 million) and has invested in 18 companies in the past 18 months – two of which have had subsequent priced rounds in excess of two times in value appreciation, and one of which is a unicorn, tech scale-up valued at more than $1 billion, Go1.
3. $171m first close for Mirova Gigaton Fund
Mirova, the sustainable investment affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers, has announced the first closing of its Mirova Gigaton Fund, which has raised $171 million.
The blended finance debt fund aims to accelerate the clean energy transition in emerging countries across Africa and Asia Pacific, as well as Latin America and the Middle East. The fund’s target size is $500 million and it will deploy private debt primarily to small and medium-sized enterprises in areas such as solar home systems, agri-solar, commercial and industrial solar, telecom tower solarisation, mini-grids, e-mobility, battery storage, climate-smart food systems, energy efficiency and carbon credit pre-financing.
4. Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners in South African deal
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) has through its Copenhagen Infrastructure New Markets Fund I (CI NMF I) acquired the majority share of Mulilo Energy Holdings, a South African renewable energy developer based in Cape Town. CIP will assume full control of the company with the current founders and management remaining on board and driving the company’s growth. The financial details of the transaction have not been disclosed.
Mulilo was founded in 2008 and has seen sustained growth in the market. Today, the company holds an 8% market share in the South African renewable sector and has to date developed and delivered 440 MW of operating wind and solar projects. In addition, the company holds an extensive pipeline exceeding 25GW across onshore wind, solar PV, and storage.
5. Apis announces Efficient Group exit
Apis Growth Fund I, a private equity fund managed by Apis Partners, has announced its plan to sell Efficient Group to global financial services provider Apex Group.
Efficient is an asset management and advisory firm that provides a range of solutions to the investment management industry, including asset administration services, asset management services, financial products distribution, and professional financial advice to both retail and institutional investors in South Africa. It operates the largest co-branded asset administration platform in South Africa, Boutique Collective Investments (BCI), and a suite of independent financial advisory businesses with a network of more than 200 registered financial advisors servicing almost 100,000 clients across South Africa.
Apis facilitated Efficient’s delisting from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange via a minority shareholder buyout in June 2020.