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. Ascent announces first close of Ascent Rift Valley Fund II
African private equity fund manager Ascent announced the first rolling close of its Ascent Rift Valley Fund II (ARVF II) at more than $100 million, exceeding its initial target of $80 million. The final close of ARVF II, with a target of $120 million, is expected in December 2021.
ARVF II will invest equity in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Eastern Africa, looking to take large minority or majority stakes.
Investors in ARVF II include BIO, CDC Group, FMO, IFC, Norfund, Proparco, SDG Frontier Fund, impact investors and major Kenyan pension funds.
2. MSA Capital and Nuwa Capital in Egyptian online furniture marketplace deal
Homzmart, an Egyptian furniture and home goods marketplace platform, has successfully closed a $15 million series A fundraise led by MSA Capital and Nuwa Capital, with participation from investors including Rise Capital, Impact46, EQ2 Ventures, and Outliers Venture Capital.
Hard-launched in Q1 2020, Homzmart was co-founded by Mahmoud Ibrahim, former COO of Daraz, and Ibrahim Mohamed, who was formerly at Jumia and led the company’s logistics development and expansion in Egypt. The wider management team includes former senior executives of Jumia, Rocket Internet and Alibaba.
3. Swiss LP commits $10m to West Africa fund
The Swiss Investment Fund for Emerging Markets (SIFEM) has made an investment in the Uhuru Growth Fund I. SIFEM’s $10 million will target businesses with an operating history, established revenues, strong management teams and a competitive position in their markets.
Uhuru Growth Fund I is the first fund of Uhuru Investment Partners, an emerging manager in West Africa founded by a team with local origins who have spent most of their professional careers in private equity. The team has offices in Lagos and Abidjan.
4. IFC announces $2bn investment in African SMEs and trade to support Covid-19 recovery
Targeting sectors hit hard by Covid-19, the IFC announced a $2 billion commitment to support smaller businesses and increased trade in Africa to galvanise the continent’s economic recovery from the pandemic and to sustain and create jobs and business activity.
IFC will invest $1 billion in new direct financing for MSMEs, the backbone of African economies, including via mezzanine financing and risk-sharing instruments. IFC will invest a further $1 billion in support of international trade finance for Africa to facilitate the flow of imports and exports of essential goods, including food and medical products.
5. Energy Access Ventures makes additional investment in Malian company
SolarX Africa, a Malian based solar company, has announced the closing of additional funding from Energy Access Ventures (EAV), an early-stage fund investing in decentralised energy companies across sub-Saharan Africa.
Further to EAV’s initial investment in SolarX Africa (July 2020), this tranche of funding brings to completion the company’s Series A round. SolarX Africa will utilise this new equity and quasi-equity funding to finance the pipeline of commercial and industrial clients in Mali and Burkina Faso.
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