These 10 African PE funds received investment from CDC in the previous financial year
CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution, today released its Annual Review 2019, which highlights its investment activity over the year.
Here is a breakdown of the Africa-focused private equity funds which have received investment from CDC in 2019.
– In West Africa, banks are currently struggling to meet the financing needs of SMEs, hampering their potential as engines of economic growth in the region. To address the challenge, CDC backed Adiwale Fund I, managed by Adiwale Partners, with £15.5 million. The fund invests in SMEs in the region, primarily Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Mali.
– CDC invested £63.4 million in African Development Partners III, a fund managed by Development Partners International (DPI). DPI’s strategy is to build a diversified pan-African portfolio of private equity investments in established and growing companies benefiting from Africa’s fast-growing, middle class.
– Apis Growth Fund II, which received a £37.6 million investment from CDC, expects to make equity investments into capital-light financial services and financial technology companies across the growth markets of Africa, South Asia and South East Asia. The fund is managed by Apis Partners with offices or representation in London, Lagos, Singapore, Mumbai, Nairobi, Johannesburg and New York.
– Amethis Fund II signed a £25.7 million commitment from CDC. The fund will provide growth capital to support companies to become national and regional market leaders, primarily across francophone Africa and East Africa.
– Mediterrania Capital Fund III is the third fund raised by Mediterrania Capital Partners. This generalist fund targets investments in North Africa (Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Egypt) with a smaller exposure to Francophone West and Central Africa (Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal). Through its £22.2 million investment in the fund, CDC aims to support well-established local firms that demonstrate strong potential for growth.
– Commercial finance is not currently suitable or available in sufficient quantity for renewable power and resource efficiency projects in Africa. Private equity fund Metier Sustainable Capital II – with a £15.5 million investment from CDC – seeks to address this financing gap and demonstrate the bankability of these business models, by providing growth capital to renewable power and resource-efficiency projects in sub-Saharan Africa. The fund will also provide much-needed capital to small-scale utility projects, which struggle to attract it.
– The SPE Capital Africa Industrialisation Fund received a £19 million commitment from CDC. The fund, managed by SPE Capital, focuses mainly on industrialisation in North Africa. The fund will target manufacturing and sectors with strong industrialisation links such as logistics and healthcare, and will predominantly invest in Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt.
– Evolution II Fund, managed by Inspired Evolution, aims to increase access to renewable energy across sub-Saharan Africa, helping to tackle climate change. CDC invested an amount of £15.8 million in the fund.
– CDC has identified investing in venture capital (VC) across the continent as a key way to back early-stage growth ventures in financially underserved markets. It committed £11.6 million to the TIDE Africa Fund, managed by early-stage VC investor TLcom. With a presence in the key venture capital hubs of Lagos and Nairobi, TLcom targets businesses that use technology to address challenges in important sectors of the economy such as agriculture, transportation and financial services.
– Verod Capital Growth III Fund, managed by Verod Capital, signed a £15.5 million investment from CDC. Fund III is targeting investments in consumer-facing SMEs in Nigeria and Ghana. The fund will be focused on sectors such as consumer goods and services, agribusiness and financial services concentrating on themes including regional expansion and import substitution.
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