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. Adiwale Fund I backs Senegalese consumer goods distributor

Adiwale Fund I has announced a minority equity investment in Global Action, a consumer goods distribution company in Senegal.

Global Action was founded in 2014 by Moussa Mboup, a Senegalese businessman with over 35 years’ experience in wholesale and retail distribution. The company targets the expanding consumer goods market in Senegal, driven by the urbanisation and the growth of the middle class.

2. Joliba Capital reaches first close for West and Central Africa fund

The IFC announced an equity investment of up to €15 million in Joliba Fund I, managed by Abidjan-based private equity firm Joliba Capital, to support the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises in Francophone West and Central Africa, one of the most underserved private equity markets in the world.

IFC’s support includes an equity investment of up to €7.5 million from IFC’s SME Ventures programme and an additional €7.5 million from the Blended Finance Facility of the International Development Association’s Private Sector Window, which helps de-risk investments in low-income countries. In its first financial close, the fund raised €55 million, including from other commercial and development investors such as Proparco, FMO, and the French private equity firm LBO France.

The fund will invest in SMEs in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Republic of Congo, Togo, Senegal, and Gabon.

3. FMO Investment Management appoints new MD

Nic Wessemius has been appointed as managing director of FMO Investment Management (FMO IM), FMO’s wholly owned investment firm, which provides investors access to FMO’s deal flow.

Wessemius co-established FMO IM with former managing director Yvonne Bakkum in late 2012, and developed it into an investment firm in 2015. In little over a decade, FMO IM invested well over $1 billion for institutional and private investors.

4. Southbridge Investments in JV for new $100m Africa fund

Southbridge Investments and On.Capital have formed a strategic joint venture to manage a $100 million fund, the Energy Go-Getters Fund. This initiative is aimed at accelerating universal energy access and climate resilience across the African continent, with a particular focus on underserved countries.

The Energy Go-Getters Fund will target investments in a wide spectrum of energy access businesses, ranging from early-stage startups with promising technologies to mature companies poised for expansion.

5. New CEO for Helios-backed data centre business

Helios-backed East African data centre developer and operator IXAfrica has announced the appointment of Snehar Shah as its new CEO.

For over 15 years, Shah held diverse leadership roles in finance and strategy at the global telecoms operator, Orange, spanning the UK, Europe, and East Africa. Subsequently, in the African startup scene, he built businesses like Eaton Towers as regional CFO, led Azuri Technologies as GM for Africa, and most recently was in charge of Moringa School as CEO.

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