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. Vantage Capital invests $28m in healthcare group

Vantage Capital, Africa’s largest mezzanine fund manager, has made a $28 million equity investment to acquire a significant minority shareholding in the Cliniques Internationales du Maroc Group (CIM Santé Group). The business was founded in 1994 by Professor Assad Chaara, an internationally renowned cardiologist who pioneered coronary angiography and catheterisation in Morocco, and the company has since grown into one of Morocco’s leading healthcare groups.

Vantage’s funding will enable the founding family to part-finance the extension of the existing clinic in Marrakech and the opening of new clinics in Tangier and Casablanca. Thereafter, CIM Santé Group plans to further strengthen its position in the Moroccan market by adding more clinics to its portfolio as well as entering new markets in the rest of Africa.

2. TLG Capital acquires 49% stake in Opportunity Bank Uganda Ltd

TLG Capital has announced it has purchased 49% of Opportunity Bank Uganda Ltd (OBUL), a tier 1 commercial bank with 23 branches and 22 ATM points across Uganda. TLG’s investment was made via its Credit Opportunities Fund (COF).

OBUL is licenced and regulated by the Central Bank of Uganda and offers tailor-made products and services for individuals, micro-businesses, and small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The bank was originally a microfinance institution founded in 1995. The transaction makes TLG the largest shareholder of OBUL. Remaining shareholders (all NGOs) include Opportunity International Group (43%), Faulu Uganda (7%), and Food for the Hungry (1%).

3. Proparco extends $60m loan to telecoms infrastructure company

French development finance institution Proparco has granted a $60 million loan to the West Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC), a pan-African telecommunications infrastructure company.

The loan will support WIOCC’s expansion plan in Eastern and Southern Africa. This plan consists of investments in the continent’s digital infrastructure, including in some of Africa’s least-developed countries. Proparco also mobilised funding from the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) company Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF), which contributed a further $40 million to this operation.

4. Egyptian American Enterprise Fund invests $50m in LCP Fund II

The Egyptian American Enterprise Fund (EAEF) has announced a $50 million investment in Lorax Capital Partners (LCP) Fund II.

LCP has raised $142 million for the first close of the fund.

LCP Fund II aims to raise up to $250 million to invest primarily in growing companies in Egypt. EAEF is joined by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Proparco as investors in LCP Fund II.

5. Tugende closes $6.3m Toyota Tsusho-backed investment round

Tugende, a technology-enabled asset finance company operating in Uganda and Kenya, has announced the completion of a $6.3 million series A investment round, led by Toyota Tsusho investment fund Mobility 54. Other participants in the round were US-based Global Partnerships’ Social Venture Fund, current shareholders including Denali Venture Philanthropy and Segal Family Foundation, and new angel investors.

Based in Kampala, Uganda and launched in 2012, Tugende uses asset finance, technology, and a high touch customer support model to help micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) own income generating assets. With over 35,000 clients served, Tugende is tackling the $331 billion credit gap MSMEs face across Africa. The new investment will help Tugende further enhance its technology platform, both for internal operations and client-facing offerings – including Tugende’s transparent, dynamic credit score all clients already receive automatically. Tugende will also use the capital to further grow its core financing product for motorcycle taxi drivers and accelerate its diversification into other MSME asset finance products including equipment for retails shops, agriculture, and further mobility assets, including e-mobility.

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