Afrikamart, a Senegal-based food distribution technology platform, recently secured USD 360,000 from Bloc Smart Africa, an investment fund managed by Luxembourg-based Bamboo Capital Partners, as part of a larger equity package. An additional
Category: Africa
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Bank Providing $52m to Lesotho to Boost Financial Access, Resilience of MSMEs – Especially Women-, Youth-owned Enterprises
The World Bank recently issued a USD 45 million loan to the government of the Kingdom of Lesotho, supported by a USD 7.5 million grant from the World Bank’s Global Risk Financing Facility. The purpose of the project is to: (1) provide “business support services and financial products” to 500 micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), of which half are to women-owned and a quarter are to be youth-owned; and
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fintech Sava Raises $1.8m in Equity to Launch Spending Management Platform in South Africa
Sava, a firm in South Africa, recently raised USD 1.8 million in “pre-seed funding” for its digital platform focused on “expenditure management and reconciliations” for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Africa. The company plans to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BIC-BRED, FMO Commit $30m in Working Capital for Sucafina to Expand Coffee Purchases from Smallholder Farmers in Africa, Colombia
Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a Dutch development bank, recently agreed to fund half of a USD 30 million facility provided by the Swiss bank Banque Internationale de Commerce-Banque Régionale d’Escompte et de Dépôt (BIC-BRED) to Sucafina, a Switzerland-based coffee trader. The deal is meant to support Sucafina’s origination activities in East Africa and Colombia and in this way
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CAURIE-MF Borrows $2.6m from Huruma Fund to Expand Agricultural Microfinance in Senegal
Spain’s Gawa Capital, the manager of the public-private partnership Huruma Fund, recently disbursed a loan of EUR 2.5 million (USD 2.6 million) from the fund to Coopérative Autonome pour le Renforcement des Initiatives Économiques par la Micro finance (CAURIE-MF), a microfinance institution in Senegal, with the objective of creating employment opportunities by expanding
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fintech Oko Secures $500k in Equity from Katapult, Individual Investors to Expand Agricultural Insurance to Cote d’Ivoire
Oko Finance, an agricultural insurance company active in Mali and Uganda, recently raised USD 500,000 in equity to expand its operations to Cote d’Ivoire. Founded in 2017 and based in Mali, Oko insures 15,000 farmers growing cotton, grains and coffee in partnership with local insurers, using
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Baobab+ Borrows $5.1m from Symbiotics to Boost Solar Electrification in 6 Countries in Africa
Symbiotics, a Switzerland-based investor focused on small businesses in low- and middle- income countries, recently extended a loan of EUR 5 million (USD 5.1 million) to Baobab+, a French energy and technology company, with the objective of increasing electrification rates in Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria and Senegal. Founded in 2015, Baobab+ provides access to solar energy and digital technology with the goal of
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC, Vista Bank Launch $24m Partnership to Increase Access to Trade Finance in Burkina Faso, Guinea
The World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) recently agreed to enroll Guinea-based Vista Bank Group in its Global Trade Finance Program (GTFP), giving the bank’s subsidiaries in Burkina Faso and Guinea access to USD 12 million each to facilitate imports of essential goods such as “foodstuffs, raw materials, refined oil products, equipment [and] consumer goods….” IFC will also provide technical assistance to Vista Bank regarding governance and risk management. This follows a 2020 project through which IFC advised Vista Bank on
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: ADEL, CGF Bourse, UNCDF Announce First Disbursement from Fonds d’Investissement Territorial (FIT), Harnessing Diaspora to Invest in SMEs in Senegal
Two Senegalese investment firms, Alliance Diaspora Economies Locales (ADEL) and CGF Bourse, have partnered with the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) to create an investment fund intended to generate both profits and social returns. The fund, Fonds d’Investissement Territorial (FIT), is enlisting
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fido of Ghana Attracts $30m Equity Package Led by Fortissimo to Expand Fintech in Africa
Ghana’s Fido Micro Credit, with the aim of expanding across Africa, recently obtained USD 30 million in Series A funding. Israel’s Fortissimo Capital led the funding round, while US-based Yard Ventures also participated, along with other unspecified private investors. Fido previously had raised
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “The Value of Pay-as-you-go Solar for Mobile Operators: Insights from Customer Journeys in Benin and Côte d’Ivoire,” Published by GSMA
This analysis of data from Benin and Côte d’Ivoire addressed “the impact of mobile consumers adopting pay-as-you-go (PAYG) solar on their mobile usage.” Based on 120 interviews with end-users of PAYG technologies, the authors found that access to energy via solar home systems resulted in:
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Savings and Retail Banking in Africa: Unpacking the Customer Through Demand Side Data,” published by World Retail Savings and Banking Institute, MasterCard Foundation
This report offers three case studies on how financial services providers (FSPs) may expand and improve their usage of data to devise client-centric services and minimise account dormancy. The first case study is on the
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Tanmeyah for Microenterprise Buys B2B Platform Fatura to Bolster Online Capacity in Egypt
Tanmeyah for Microenterprise Services, a subsidiary of Egypt-based EFG Hermes Holding, recently acquired Netherlands-domiciled Fatura, a “tech-driven business-to-business (B2B) platform” active in Egypt. Tanmeyah CEO Hossam AlNaggar said the acquisition will provide “the company a faster route to digitally transform and develop.” The terms of the transaction
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Symbiotics Raising $17m in Green Bonds for Sun King to Finance Household Solar Technology in Africa, Asia
Symbiotics, a Switzerland-based investor focused on small businesses in low- and middle- income countries, recently listed bonds on the Luxembourg Green Exchange to raise USD 17 million for Sun King, a Kenya-based firm selling solar technology in 62 countries. Sun King plans to use the proceeds to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: SIDI, Alterfin Announce First Close of FEFISOL II Fund at $23m to Support Rural Microfinance, Smallholder Farmers in Africa
France-based investment firm Solidarité Internationale pour le Développement et l’Investissement (SIDI) and Belgium-based cooperative Alterfin recently announced a new investment vehicle, Fonds Européen de Financement Solidaire (FEFISOL) II, whose first close includes investments totaling EUR 22 million (USD 23 million). The goal of the new fund is to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFAD Lends Soafiary $3.6m to Boost Direct Sourcing from Smallholder Farmers in Madagascar
The UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) recently extended a loan of EUR 3.5 million (USD 3.6 million) to Soafiary, an agribusiness in Madagascar, to support the firm’s effort to “grow sustainably and reorient [its] business model, by increasing from 30 to 70 percent its direct sourcing from small-scale farmers,” potentially increasing grower incomes by
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: DFC, USAID, African Union’s AUDA-NEPAD Partner to Expand Access to Finance for MSMEs in Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Nigeria
The US Agency for International Development (AID) and the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) recently joined with the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) to provide loan guarantees to support micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi and Nigeria. The goals of the partnership are to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Oikocredit, Aqua for All to Invest $17m in Water, Sanitation in Africa, Cambodia
Two Dutch entities, the cooperative investor Oikocredit and the nonprofit Aqua for All, recently launched a two-year partnership to facilitate access to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in Cambodia as well as unspecified countries in East and West Africa. Oikocredit has agreed to invest up to EUR 15 million (USD 15.6 million) in