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. Kibo Capital invests in Mozambican education group
Private equity firm Kibo Capital Partners has acquired a majority stake in a Mozambican tertiary education group, Transcom S.A. This marks Kibo’s eleventh and final deal from its second fund.
The capital will go towards the construction of a new campus enabling the university to broaden its course offering and address the current capacity constraints. Transcom offers courses across engineering and business management areas. The university is seen as the leader in the Mozambican private education segment in the area of engineering.
Transcom was founded in 1998 by five reputable shareholders, comprised of both private and public Portuguese and Mozambican companies.
2. Nigeria: TLcom Capital announces first fintech investment
Nigerian fintech platform Okra has secured a $1 million pre-seed fundraise from TLcom Capital, strengthening its push to build the infrastructure for Africa’s next wave of fintech innovation. With the first API in Africa to retrieve real-time financial data from a bank account to any web or mobile app, Okra’s new investment will be used to scale its team and operations.
Launched in January 2020, Okra’s “super-connector” creates a secure portal and process to exchange real-time financial information between customers, applications and banks. Currently, developers and organisations in Africa do not have access to real-time banking data, creating large hurdles during the onboarding and verification of customers. Okra is the first in Africa to bridge this gap, delivering a new layer of transparency between organisations and users in the lending, personal and corporate finance and real estate sectors.
The $1 million investment in Okra marks TLcom’s first investment in the fintech sector and as part of the deal, Andreata Muforo, partner at TLcom, will join Okra’s board. Ido Sum, also a partner at the VC firm, will join as a board observer.
3. Nigerian education platform uLesson secures further investment
Nigerian-based education technology startup uLesson has announced participation in its seed funding round by Founder Collective, a seed-stage venture capital fund.
This latest investment is a part of its seed funding round secured in 2019 and allows uLesson to expand its online learning platform, which is designed to provide high-quality, affordable and accessible education for African learners. The platform leverages best in class academic tutors, media and technology to create solutions that allow students to maximise their potential.
Launched officially in March 2020, uLesson continues to make strides in the online learning space. The company recently expanded its offerings to even more markets across the African continent. The app currently offers maths, physics, chemistry and biology for senior secondary school, and the company is working to release both a Windows product and a junior secondary school library – covering basic technology, basic science, business studies and mathematics – in the coming months.
4. DEG invests $3.1m for minority interest in Malawian agricultural solutions company
German development financier DEG has disclosed a commitment of approximately $3.1 million for a minority interest in Malawian agricultural solutions provider Farming and Engineering Services Limited (FES).
Phatisa Food Fund 2 and a group of co-investors – Norfund, Mbuyu Capital and DEG – recently announced the acquisition of FES. The investment will support FES’s long term growth strategy, assisting the company to expand its successful business model to neighbouring countries.
FES caters for a broad customer base of commercial and emerging farmers. It is the single largest investor in Malawi's agricultural equipment industry. The company provides a wide range of high-tech agricultural solutions including precision and low-till farming; drone technology for crop analysis and crop protection; irrigation systems including water management solutions; and contracting services. AgriLab, an FES initiative, is Malawi’s first independent soil and leaf testing facility which allows farmers to test, manage and control their soil, leaf and water quality. This initiative contributes to improved yields and crop quality, increased revenue and reduced input costs.
5. South Africa: Value Capital Partners acquires stake in payments company
South Africa's Value Capital Partners (VCP) has acquired a 13.4% stake in Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed payments solutions company Net1.
According to a Moneyweb report, the shares were bought between mid-March and mid-April for a total amount of around R580 million.
VCP is an investment company which holds minority positions in listed companies and acts as an engaged shareholder in those entities to drive maximum returns for all stakeholders. The firm says it aims to deploy the best of private equity principles in the listed equity space.
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