MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Verdant Capital Hybrid Fund Closes with $34m from KfW to Invest in Microfinance, SME Lenders in Africa

Verdant Capital, an African corporate finance firm, recently announced the first close of its Verdant Capital Hybrid Fund (VCHF), with USD 36 million in public and private commitments. Verdant will deploy investments from VCHF to support funders of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Its goals are the “creation of employment and income generation” in keeping with “high environmental and social standards.” The fund is domiciled in Germany, as its primary investor is Germany’s KfW Development Bank. The term hybrid refers to an “intermediate capital tier that can be leveraged by local and international senior debt investors.”

Verdant is based in Mauritius and also has offices in Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, and South Africa. The firm provides capital-raising and financial advisory services as well as assisting in mergers and acquisitions.

KfW was founded in 1948 and is owned by the federal and local governments of Germany. As of December 2020, KfW held EUR 546 billion (USD 615 billion) in total assets and EUR 424 billion (USD 477 billion) in net loans and advances.

Sources and Additional Resources

Verdant fund descriptions
https://verdant-cap.com/specialist-funds/

Verdant homepage
https://verdant-cap.com/

KfW homepage
https://www.kfw.de/

More news from MicroCapital on Verdant
https://www.microcapital.org/?s=Verdant

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