Spark+ Africa Fund, a partnership of Switzerland-based Enabling Qapital and the Dutch NGO Stichting Modern Cooking (SMC), recently lent USD 3.5 million to The African Stove Company (TASC), which is based in Jersey, to sell 90,000 cookstoves in rural Zambia. Spark+ Africa raised the funds from the sale of “several million tons
Tag: food and agriculture
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Silicon Badia, Sanad Fund for MSME, Arab Bank Accelerator, Sunny Side Invest Equity in Cartona to Digitize Food Supply Chain in Egypt
Four entities recently placed equity in Cartona, a virtual marketplace connecting Egyptian food wholesalers and distributors, for the first time: US-based Silicon Badia; Sanad Fund for MSME, which was founded by Germany’s KfW Development Bank to invest in micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs); Jordan-based Arab Bank Accelerator; and Egypt-based Sunny Side Venture Partners. Silicon Badia
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC Commits $1b to MSMEs in Africa Recovering from Pandemic Recession via Risk Sharing, Mezzanine Financing
The International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, recently committed USD 1 billion to finance micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) through risk sharing and mezzanine financing in collaboration with public and private financial institutions. The loan will target MSMEs in sectors considered more likely to create jobs, given the
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Deploying Blended Finance to Mobilize Investment at Scale in Food and Agriculture;” by Bettina Prato et al; Published by SAFIN, Convergence
The authors of this paper discuss the “financing landscape” of the food and agriculture sector and argue in favor of increasing the deployment of blended finance, “the use of catalytic capital from public or philanthropic sources to increase private sector investment.” A report from the 2019 UN Conference on Trade and Development estimates that the private sector could fund