287 private capital deals were concluded in Africa in 2024 YTD, just shy of the 5-year average of 294 deals despite an 11% YoY decline. The volume highlights Africa’s sustained investment appeal despite global headwinds.

This series offers an overview of Africa's Private Capital Activity, with this report highlighting key trends in investments, exits, and fundraising observed during the second quarter of 2024.

This series offers an overview of Africa's Private Capital Activity, with this report highlighting key trends in investments, exits, and fundraising observed during the first quarter of 2024.

Agrigroupe Energy Holdings and its underlying investors acquired POWERX to facilitate renewable energy trading in South Africa as the market liberalized and opened up to new traders and emerging renewable IPPs. PowerX’s first mover advantage and unique regulatory status catalysed the development and trading of renewable power in South Africa. 

The investment into Visiosoft transforms infrastructure into reliably smart assets, resulting in intelligent utilisation of resources. This has enabled optimized use cases for energy and water management in both commercial and industrial sectors, alongside enhancements in safety measures.

Nature’s Nectar adopts an inclusive model for women beekeepers, aiming for 50% female participation. The company’s efforts also extend to increasing rural incomes and improving health and safety standards within the Zambian beekeeping community. By offering commercially designed hives known for their long-term sustainability, Nature’s Nectar contributes to reducing deforestation. The company’s initiatives are geared towards uplifting local communities, promoting self-sufficiency and positively influencing the wellbeing of residents in often overlooked areas. It also maintains a transparent supply chain with gender-wage equality across all levels.

The investment aims to significantly contribute to SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) and SDG 13 (Climate Action) by substantially increasing the share of renewable energy in the energy mix with a portfolio of 6GW of renewable energy assets by 2030.At the same time, it will contribute to achieving improved livelihoods through the provision of decent work and gender equality.

The investment focuses on growing the regional labour market, developing human capital, and solidifying the sector’s GDP contribution. It aims to improve the quality of Namibia’s hospitality to attract high-value, long-haul markets and diversify source markets for resilience. Additionally, it involves partnering with Namibian authorities to promote Namibia via Accor’s distribution platform and expertise, aiding in enhancing “Brand Namibia.”

Yellow is a specialised credit provider that enables consumers across five African markets to acquire small off-grid solar systems and smartphones. In 2023, CPDIF injected US$10mn in growth capital to fuel Yellow’s growth and enhance its geographic expansion. 

Founded in 1985, Tessara operated for many years with a single flagship product, Uvasys, the world’s first laminated SO2-generating sheet designed to protect table grapes from post-harvest decay. Since partnering with the Alterra team in 2018, Tessara has broadened its horizons, expanding its innovative solutions to include additional agricultural products (e.g., berries, flowers and tomatoes). Moreover, the company has achieved a significant milestone by developing and bringing to market another recyclable product.

The report provides analysis on the latest trends of fundraising, investments, and exits within African Private Capital Activity in Africa, shedding light on the recent developments that took place during 2023. 

This report provides an analysis on the latest trends of fundraising, investments, and exits unfolding across the continent in 2022.

The company’s value proposition is centered around offering bespoke, tech-based talent solutions for the East African job market. Its online job portals, Ethiojobs, Dereja, and Kipawa, contribute to the efficient matching of employers with qualified candidates, thereby promoting a more dynamic and fair labour market.

In the report we present an overview of the African venture capital ecosystem, spotlighting the latest global trends and development during the highly eventful start to the year for Africa’s innovation ecosystem.

This case study showcases Meridiam’s investment in Solarsen platform, which comprises 4 power plants located in Senegal, and explores the investor’s commitment to deliver positive impact by contributing towards SDG 7. SDG 7 has been one of Meridiam’s main pillars with investments in energy transition projects such as renewables being at the heart of the company’s investment strategy.

This case study highlights African Infrastructure Investment Managers’ investment in Starsight Energy, a leading Commercial & Industrial solar power supplier in Africa. Starsight Energy delivers comprehensive, end-to-end solar solutions that help businesses reduce annual energy costs, boost energy efficiency, and improve their carbon footprints.

This case study focuses on Adenia Partners’ investment in Red Lands Roses, a company that specializes in the production of premium roses in Kenya, and investigates how they are integrating ‘SDG 5 – Gender Equality’ into this. Adenia Partners is a private markets investment firm committed to responsible investing and a sustainable Africa. By creating stronger companies with quality jobs, fostering economic improvement, and elevating companies to meet ESG standards, Adenia is increasing the enterprise value for investors, while benefiting workers, communities, and companies in Africa.

This case study highlights Alitheia IDF’s investment in ReelFruit, a woman-owned agro-processing company in Nigeria that produces a range of retail packaged snacks, and showcases how they are integrating SDG 5 - Gender Equality into this investment. Alitheia IDF is the first and largest African gender-lens investment fund which seeks to increase and improve the financial and social outcomes of women by investing in a diversified portfolio of women-owned, womenled, or women-serving SMEs.

Herholdt’s is a family business established in Bloemfontein, South Africa, in 1964, whom successfully diversified into the distribution of solar energy installations. Impressed by the company’s growth and development impact potential, Adenia partnered with the second-generation family members, who had been running the business for more than 5 years, to buy out the founders.

This case study focuses on Verod Capital Management’s investment into schools in Nigeria via its portfolio company, Oreon Education Services, and how they are integrating ‘SDG 4 – Quality Education’ into this investment. Verod is a leading West African private equity investor seeking to partner with fast growing companies which have the potential to become large, dominant, and sustainable enterprises.

2021 AVCA’s Africa Private Capital Activity report presents the current state and recent development of private capital activity in Africa. It provides an analysis on the latest trends of fundraising, investments, and exits unfolding across the continent in 2021.

This case study focuses on BluePeak Private Capital Fund’s investment in Africure, a leading manufacturer and distributor of essential generic pharmaceutical products operating across more than 10 African countries, and investigates how they are integrating ‘SDG 3 – Good Health and Wellbeing’ into this investment.

The second case study in this series focuses on Injaro Investments, and their commitment to building a world free of hunger through their investment in Ghanaian agribusiness, Agricare.

The first case study in this series focuses on the pan-African PE fund manager, Metier, and their commitment to building a world free of poverty through their investment in South African FMCG company, Nature’s Choice (Pty) Ltd.

AVCA is pleased to announce the publication of the 2017 Exit Study, How private equity investors create value. Presented by EY and AVCA, the study examines PE exits between 2007–16 using data drawn from both public sources and confidential interviews with former PE owners of exited businesses.

The 2016 Annual African Private Equity Data Tracker draws on data from AVCA’s proprietary private equity (PE) database and provides insights into key trends in PE investment and fundraising in Africa from 2011 – 2016. Our findings show that deal activity in Africa continues to be strong even in an increasingly volatile global economic environment.

AVCA is pleased to announce the publication of the 2016 exit study, How private equity investors create value. Presented by EY and AVCA, the study examines PE exits between 2007–15 using data drawn from both public sources and confidential interviews with former PE owners of exited businesses.

The update to the 2013 AVCA and EY’s study Broadening horizons: how do private equity investors create value? highlights a strengthening market for private equity exits in Africa. Private equity firms exited 40 companies between 1 January and 31 December 2014, a 38% increase from 29 exits in 2013.

This is the second of our annual studies of how private equity (PE) investors create value in Africa. In our inaugural report, we countered popular opinion about PE in Africa to prove that the industry was making excellent progress in exiting its portfolio companies. We also provided evidence of genuine value creation by PE firms in the region through hands-on involvement in the companies they back.

This joint research piece, looking at value creation through exit deals across Africa, provides an answer to the commonly asked question “are there exits in Africa?” The continent’s stock markets, other than the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, are still very small and relatively illiquid, and the intermediary networks remain far from complete across the region. As a result, a widely held perception is that exits are hard to achieve and that therefore they are few in number. However, our analysis points to a higher level of exit activity than might be expected.