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. AfricaGrow fund of funds invests €30m in the African market
Allianz Global Investors’ €200 million AfricaGrow fund of funds, which was launched in November last year, has made its first two investments.
AfricaGrow is a public-private cooperation between KfW Entwicklungsbank, Allianz and DEG.
The first two investment tranches of around €15 million each went to SPE AIF I and the Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund (CAIF). SPE AIF I is a fund of SPE Capital Partners, a private equity fund manager based in Tunisia. It focuses on investments in portfolio companies located in North Africa and with strong growth potential in sectors such as manufacturing, services, logistics, healthcare and education. Currently, the fund is invested in four portfolio companies in Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia.
2. AfricInvest Fund IV in line for further $15m commitment from LP
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is considering an additional equity commitment of up to $15 million in AfricInvest Fund IV, a generalist, closed-end private equity fund domiciled in Mauritius with a target size of $400 million.
The fund will be managed by AfricInvest and will invest in mid-market growth capital transactions in Africa.
3. Proparco invests in Egypt-focused LCP Fund II
French development finance institution Proparco has invested $11 million in LCP Fund II, to help bridge the long-term financing gap for Egyptian mid-cap companies.
Incorporated in 2015, Lorax Capital Partners (LCP) is an Egypt-focused private equity firm. Over the course of the last five years, LCP has supported the Egyptian American Enterprise Fund (EAEF) in deploying about $175 million across five companies. One of their most notable investments was Fawry, Egypt’s largest e-payment network, making its debut listing on the Cairo Stock Exchange in August 2019. The company was also the first unicorn in Egypt and one of the first in Africa.
4. Norfund sells SN Power to Scatec Solar
After building SN Power into a leading hydropower company in developing countries, Norfund, Norway’s development finance institution, has sold all the shares to Norwegian energy developer Scatec Solar for $1.17 billion. ”The deal opens new opportunities for us to reinvest capital in projects that are crucial to fight poverty and avoid carbon emissions,” says Tellef Thorleifsson, CEO of Norfund.
Norfund has, as owner of SN Power, been instrumental in building a leading hydropower company in developing countries. Each year, SN Power plants produce power equivalent to the electricity consumption of 7 million people and help avoid 3 million tonnes of carbon emissions.
5. IFC proposes additional investment in Kenya’s Twiga Foods
The IFC is proposing to invest, through unfunded risk sharing facilities (RSFs) with tier 1 commercial banks in Kenya, up to KES1.6 billion ($15 million) for an aggregate portfolio of loans of up to KES3.2 billion ($30 million) in Twiga Foods, a distributor of fresh fruits and vegetables and fast-moving consumer goods in Kenya. The funding will be used to support the development of up to 300 irrigated medium-scale contract farmers. The RSFs will be scaled up in phases and the first phase will be implemented with KCB Bank Kenya Limited.
Established in 2014, Twiga, through its unified digital platform and robust logistics network, efficiently connects farmers and retail vendors to increase the availability, affordability and accessibility of food. The company is an existing IFC client.
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