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. AIIM acquires stake in Ghanaian data centre
African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), one of Africa’s largest infrastructure-focused private equity fund managers, together with the management team of the new Onix Data Centres (Onix DC) platform, have acquired a majority stake in Ngoya Etix DC (Ghana) Ltd, a carrier-neutral data centre with a current capacity of 170 racks (expandable to 680 racks), via AIIM’s flagship pan-African infrastructure fund, AIIF3.
Located in the Greater Accra region of Ghana, the facility – to be renamed Onix Accra 1 – is the only Tier IV data centre in the country and is expected to be the largest operational data centre in Ghana once fully ramped-up, providing physical space, power, cooling, connectivity and security to customers.
2. Kenya: InfraCo Africa invests in student accommodation
InfraCo Africa, part of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), has subscribed to the Acorn real estate investment trust (REIT) committing to support the delivery of affordable student accommodation in Nairobi. The $10 million (Kenyan Shilling equivalent) investment, made through InfraCo Africa’s dedicated investment vehicle, will enable Acorn to scale its business, building on the company’s track record of delivering purpose-built student housing in Kenya, and helping to mobilise local capital markets.
Acorn has launched two REITs – a Development REIT to support development of housing projects, and an Income REIT for operational housing blocks. Unlike traditional equity, REITs offer a tax efficient means of raising capital, enabling Acorn to achieve scale quickly. As an anchor investor into both REITs, InfraCo Africa’s involvement gave significant comfort to local private sector investors who were considering REITs for the first time and mobilised funds from local pension schemes, insurance companies and high net worth individuals.
3. Vumela Fund, managed by Edge Growth, invests in South African fintech company
The Vumela Fund, established by FNB Business and Edge Growth, has announced an equity investment into Inoxico, enabling the company to continue establishing itself as a recognised commercial credit risk technology provider.
Inoxico is a tech company that uses trade credit analytics to help companies grow with their business customers. Trade credit (offering products on credit terms to business customers) is the most important and prevalent form of growth capital in developing economies and yet there is a severe lack of information so companies often struggle to collect from their customers and find their cashflow negatively impacted. Inoxico through its application of tech and analytics is able to source data and develop predictive models that enable better trade credit decisions. Inoxico is a supplier to the FirstRand Group.
4. The HAVAÍC Universum Core African Fund achieves its second close
Following a successful 2020 comprising eight new investments and three international exits, African focused venture capital investor HAVAÍC has announced the launch of its newest fund.
With a track record for investing in, supporting, internationalising, and ultimately exiting, early-stage high growth African technology companies, HAVAÍC’s Universum Core African Fund has now achieved its second close.
The fund is a joint venture between HAVAÍC and Universum Wealth, an international investment management firm with experience in both listed and private markets.
5. Gulf Capital exits ECDC
Gulf Capital, a growth markets alternative investment firm, has announced the full exit of its investment in ECDC, a leading oil and gas drilling and production services provider in the Middle East and Africa.
Gulf Capital partnered with the founding shareholders of ECDC and invested in the company in 2014 to finance organic and inorganic growth opportunities, including investments in the energy sector in Egypt. A 2017 follow-on investment further supported the company’s ambitious growth plans.
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