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. CDC signs $100m investment in healthcare company
CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor, has announced a $100 million minority equity investment in Alfa Medical Group (AMG) alongside healthcare investor Africa Platform Capital, the family office of Simon Rowlands, a leading sector expert with a strong track record in healthcare and former co-founder of the global private equity firm, Cinven, where he led the healthcare team.
AMG is one of the largest healthcare providers in Egypt and consists of 140-plus medical labs and six radiology centres, as well as a 170-bed hospital, with two further hospitals and the Alfa Medical City under construction. The group traces its roots to the El-Safa hospital founded in 1977 by the late Prof. Samir Talaat, followed by Alfa Scan and Alfa Laboratories established over 25 years ago.
2. Kenya: AXA IM Alts invests in organics recycling company
AXA IM Alts, a global alternatives investment firm, through the AXA Impact Fund Climate and Biodiversity, along with Mani Kapital and Kepple Ventures, have invested in Sanergy, an organics recycling company transforming how cities in the developing world manage waste by upcycling it into valuable agricultural inputs – insect-based protein for animal feed, organic fertiliser and biomass fuel. This circular economy approach is cleaning up the environment, promoting sustainable agriculture, improving yields for farmers, and creating thousands of jobs along the value chain.
With AXA IM Alts’s support, Sanergy would be well-positioned to scale its operations in Kenya and across the region. Sanergy collects organic and sanitation waste from agribusiness, urban markets, informal settlements, and central kitchens, then processes these waste streams into insect-based proteins derived from black soldier flies for animal feed replacing unsustainable fishmeal, soil-restorative organic fertiliser for sustainable agriculture, and biomass fuel replacing unsustainable firewood and heavy fuel oil in industrial boilers. AXA IM Alts’s support also positions Sanergy for expansion across Africa and Asia in the coming five years. Sanergy has the goal of processing 1 million tonnes of waste per year by 2026, and aims to operate in at least 10 cities.
3. Phatisa Food Fund 2 reaches $143m final close from DFI commitments
A group of leading development finance institutions (DFIs) and impact investors – CDC Group, Norfund, Finnfund, FinDev Canada and BIO – have announced an $82 million joint commitment to Phatisa Food Fund 2 (PFF 2), managed by Phatisa.
PFF 2 will invest across the African food value chain, considering investments in mechanisation, inputs, poultry and meat production, food processing and manufacturing, logistics, aggregation and distribution across sub-Saharan Africa. The investment will strengthen and increase food supply, local production and distribution across the region.
A consortium of investors, consisting of CDC, Norfund, Finnfund, FinDev Canada, and BIO committed to the fund’s final close, $30 million, $20 million, $15 million, $10 million and $7 million, respectively. The fund has reached a final close of $143 million, bringing DFIs and commercial investors together to boost the supply of quality food in sub-Saharan Africa – where an estimated 239 million people are affected by food insecurity.
4. Amethis acquires stake in FMCG company
Investment fund manager Amethis has acquired a minority stake in Nouvelle Minoterie Africaine (NMA), an FMCG company in Senegal, which produces and distributes poultry and livestock feed, pasta and wheat flour. This represents Amethis’ first transaction in Senegal.
Founded in 2000 by the late Ameth Amar, a successful Senegalese entrepreneur, NMA has rapidly grown thanks to organic growth, combined with the acquisition of Moulins Sentenac in 2015. NMA is a key player in the Senegalese industrial landscape both in terms of size and brand recognition.
5. Nigeria: FRAGG Investment Management to run new fund
FRAGG Investment Management Ltd has been appointed as the fund manager by the board of Grooming Endowment Trust.
The Grooming Endowment Trust is seeded with approximately $15 million with the target of reaching a cap of $50 million.
The Grooming Endowment Trust is set up by Grooming Centre, a non-governmental organisation and one of the largest microfinance institutions in Nigeria with a primary aim to address the near absence of financial services to the large population of people engaged in small trading and micro productive activities in Nigeria. FRAGG intends to manage the fund in line with the fund’s mandate to fill a market gap in the African market, by providing financial resources and technical assistance to multi-sector SMEs in the impact and climate domain. It will specifically target viable multi-sector impact SMEs with a clearly defined business model, social and environmental goals.
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