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. Helios invests in NBA’s African basketball business
The National Basketball Association (NBA) has announced the formation of NBA Africa, a new entity that will conduct the league’s business in Africa, including the Basketball Africa League (BAL) – a partnership between the NBA and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the NBA’s first collaboration to operate a league outside of North America.
The strategic investors include a consortium led by Babatunde “Tunde” Folawiyo, chairman and CEO of Yinka Folawiyo Group; and Helios Fairfax Partners Corporation (HFP), led by Tope Lawani, co-CEO of HFP and co-founder and managing partner of Helios Investment Partners, HFP’s investment advisor. The investors’ expertise in a wide range of industries and established relationships with African businesses, governments and NGOs will help accelerate the NBA’s growth across the continent. Lawani and Folawiyo will also join the NBA Africa board of directors.
2. Vantage Capital invests $23m in PickAlbatros Hotels
Vantage Capital, Africa’s largest mezzanine fund manager, announced that it has provided $23 million of mezzanine debt funding to PickAlbatros Hotels. The proceeds will be used to fund working capital and renovation work on several recently-acquired hotels.
PickAlbatros is a leading hotel owner and operator in Egypt, with a portfolio of 15 operating hotels and close to 10,000 rooms across the Red Sea resort towns of Hurghada, Sharm El Sheikh, Sahl Hasheesh and Marsa Alam. It also operates two hotels in Morocco.
3. Adiwale Partners signs new LP for West Africa fund
The IFC has disclosed an investment of up to €9 million in equity into Adiwale Fund I, managed by Adiwale Partners, that will be making equity/quasi-equity investments of between €3-8 million into growth-oriented SMEs in Francophone West Africa.
Adiwale Fund I, which had a first close of €50.5 million in October 2019, is established as a limited partnership registered in Mauritius. Investments by the fund will be across the Francophone West Africa region, primarily focusing on Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Mali and Burkina Faso. The fund will target three key sectors: consumer, business services and manufacturing.
4. New Tiger Brands VC fund seeks to invest in African food and beverage startups
South African food company Tiger Brands has established a venture capital fund as part of its effort to drive growth. The venture capital fund will be launched in June 2021 and aims to give food and beverage startups the much-needed access to capital and capability required to grow their businesses. The fund will assist entrepreneurs in securing capital while also helping Tiger explore new opportunities locally and across the African continent.
As a priority, the fund will invest in consumer brands and intellectual property within the food and beverage sector. There will be a secondary focus on capability and technology opportunities across the value chain which can benefit the broader Tiger business. Relevant opportunities will include emerging and existing consumer trends such as health and nutrition, plant-based foods, convenience and snackification.
5. Agri-Business Capital Fund provides loans to three West African companies
The Agri-Business Capital (ABC) Fund has provided loans to three agribusinesses to support their working capital needs and their expansion, enabling higher rural employment and securing market access for farmers in their respective sectors. The two loans in the mango sector enable the provision of financing to SMEs that usually do not have access to local finance, with financial institutions being reluctant to finance the mango activity due the short harvest season, lasting only three-four months a year.
The ABC Fund provided a loan of €450,000 to Kaworo, a producer of grains (mainly maize, millet, sesame, cowpeas and sorghum) and seeds, to finance the purchase of grains for the 2021/2022 farming season. The loan is expected to enable the company to increase the number of farmers it works with, providing additional income to over 100 new farmers. The scheme currently has 525 outgrowers. In 2019/2020, Kaworo managed to produce a total of 1,753 tonnes of cereals.
Etablissement Yaffa et Frères (EYF), one of the largest local fresh mangos exporters in Mali, is the only company in Mali to deliver mangos directly from its packing facility to supermarkets by air freight. The company received €250,000 in working capital to purchase mangos and related export costs, to meet the increased European demand for the product. The ABC Fund’s financing will enable EYF to continue buying mangos from the current 310 farmers and employing 200 seasonal workers on the packaging site.
ROCFED, an exporter of mangos from the Côte d’Ivoire buying from local farmers to sell into European markets, has received a €300,000 loan from the ABC Fund. The loan will be used by ROCFED to purchase mangos from over 200 producers at a higher price than the market price, providing a stable revenue for families across the region. The loan will also be used to hire five new permanent staff and 130 seasonal workers for this year’s season.
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