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. EXEO Capital makes education investment
Pan-African alternative investment firm, EXEO Capital, together with Stellenbosch Graduate Institute (SGI) – a specialist provider of online higher education – have announced their joint acquisition of Pearson Institute of Higher Education (PIHE), with the aim of expanding access to higher education across South Africa and, selectively, in wider Africa.
Formed through the amalgamation of entities formerly known as CTI Education Group and Midrand Graduate Institute (MGI), so far in 2020, PIHE has served 7,500 students through 12 campuses across South Africa. Of the opinion that the PIHE model, is ripe for scalability with its campus-based education and future opportunities in online delivery, the EXEO-SGI consortium’s ambition is to grow the business into new markets and fill the existing gap in higher education delivery.
2. CDC backs BlueOrchard’s Covid-19 support fund
BlueOrchard Finance, an impact investment manager and member of the Schroders Group, has launched the BlueOrchard Covid-19 Emerging and Frontier Markets MSME Support Fund. The fund is supported by prominent public and private investors who will jointly support its launch with around $140 million. The first of its kind, the fund will provide support funding to financial institutions and is expected to finance 20 institutions, serve three million micro-entrepreneurs and maintain 60 million jobs per each $100 million. The fund has a target size of $350 million.
The fund is backed by CDC (the UK’s development finance institution), DFC (U.S. International Development Finance Corporation), and JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency). KfW, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), is currently in due diligence stage and intends to join the circle of investors.
3. Nigerian digital bank closes $10 million funding
Kuda, the Lagos and London based fintech building a pan-African digital challenger bank, has announced the successful closing of a $10 million fundraise.
The seed round, which is the largest ever African fintech seed raise, was led by Target Global, one of Europe’s leading venture capital firms – with participation from Entrée Capital and SBI Investment.
Other fintech founders and angel investors participated in the round, including Raffael Johnen (founder of Auxmoney), Johan Lorenzen (founder of Holvi), Brandon Krieg/Ed Robinson (founders of US-based, Stash), and Oliver and Lish Jung (angel investors in Nubank, Revolut and Chime).
4. FMO proposes €18m investment in PE fund
Dutch development financier FMO is proposing an €18 million investment in the Africa Renewable Energy Fund II (AREF II), a private equity fund investing in clean energy generating assets across sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa). The fund is managed by Berkeley Energy and is expected to reach first close in 2020, having development finance institutions including FMO as anchor investors.
AREF II is the follow-on fund of the Africa Renewable Energy Fund (AREF), in which FMO invested in 2014.
FMO’s investment in the Africa Renewable Energy Fund II will come from two government funds, Access to Energy Fund (AEF) and Building Prospects Fund (BPF). The funding objective is to deploy capital towards investments that deliver social and environmental benefits as well as financial returns. The AREF II investment mandate is focused on renewable energy generation in Africa, and as such the fund will play an important role in the support to the transition to clean energy as well as increasing access to energy in underserved and challenging markets. The fund manager has a unique blend of team skills, experience and networks allowing for a compelling proposition.
5. North Africa: IFC mulls $15m investment in VC fund
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has disclosed a proposed equity commitment of up to $15 million in BECO Booster Fund III, a venture capital fund domiciled in the Cayman Islands. The fund will invest in technology startups (late seed to series B) across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
The fund will be managed by BECO Capital Investments, a limited liability company domiciled in Dubai, UAE. BECO is owned by the two managing partners – Dany Farha and Yousef Hammad.
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