Member News

Build Ventures, Axian Group, Mistral, Island Capital Partners, Concrete, and others contribute to the round to fund accelerated growth in payment operations automation.

The investment will support LOLC’s global expansion strategy in Africa, by financing MSMEs, thereby fostering financial inclusion, employment creation, income generation, and economic growth.

Djamo is one of several digital banking startups targeting Africa’s underbanked. But unlike many that focus on large markets like Nigeria, Egypt, or South Africa, Djamo has carved out a niche in Francophone West Africa, specifically the Ivory Coast and, more recently, Senegal. It now serves over 1 million customers across both countries.

Casablanca, Morocco, 2 April 2025 - Africa50 Group, the pan-African infrastructure investor and asset manager, today announced that the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), representing the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) of South Africa, has made an investment of US$40 million, becoming its 36th shareholder.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, March 25, 2025 – NjiaPay, a payment service provider (PSP), is changing the payment landscape for South African businesses. NjiaPay offers a single integration for merchants, eliminating the need to manage multiple integrations. With features like intelligent routing, built-in redundancy and centralized reconciliation and data management, NjiaPay ensures a seamless payment experience and enhanced payment success rates.

DEG is continuing its long-standing collaboration with Mediterrania Capital Partners and is increasing its stake in the latest fund Mediterrania Capital IV Mid-Cap by a further EUR 15 million, bringing the total amount invested to EUR 25 million. The private equity fund invests across core sectors essential to economic development in North Africa and French-speaking markets in West Africa.

Swedfund has committed EUR 15 million to the AfricInvest Small Cap Fund, a private equity initiative focused on supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Africa.

Bridgetown, Barbados, 12 March 2025 – The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and Africa50 today announced an innovative partnership for a US$500 million DRE Nigeria Fund to develop and finance distributed renewable energy (DRE) projects in Nigeria. NSIA, SEforALL and Africa50 signed the Fund’s Heads of Terms agreement at the SEforALL Global Forum in Barbados.

Johannesburg, South Africa, March 12, 2025 – To support the construction and purchase of green buildings and homes in South Africa, including in the affordable housing sector and for women home-owners, IFC today announced a loan to The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited (Standard Bank), the country’s largest bank by asset value.

Cairo, Egypt, March 11, 2025 – IFC is extending its partnership with Kazyon Group to support the development and expansion of Morocco’s discount grocery retail sector, improving access to quality food and creating tens of thousands of jobs, especially for young people and women in rural areas across the country.

The Climate Investment Fund is investing in a new South African platform for renewable energy, operated by Pele Green Energy Group. The capital will finance projects that will avoid 1.9 million tons of CO2.

7 March 2025 - Leading African private equity firms Alterra and Phatisa have signed agreements to acquire 100% of Java House Africa (“Java House” or the “Company”) from emerging-market investor Actis, for an undisclosed sum. The investment marks a significant milestone in Java House’s growth journey, reinforcing its position as a category leader on the continent.

Sahel Capital, a prominent investment manager in the food and agriculture sector in sub-Sahara Africa, has successfully closed an investment of US$400,000 working capital loan through its Social Enterprise Fund for Agriculture in Africa (SEFAA). SEFAA aims to stimulate economic activities among smallholder farmers by empowering the social enterprises that engage with them.

Nairobi, Kenya / Johannesburg, South Africa – Alterra Capital Partners (“Alterra”) is pleased to announce a strategic investment in ARP Africa Travel Group (“ARP Africa”), partnering with the founding family to accelerate expansion across East Africa and beyond.

British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor, alongside Swedfund and Norfund, have announced a joint $85 million investment in AgDevCo, the specialist investor transforming agriculture across sub-Saharan Africa. The equity investment comprises up to $50 million from BII, $20 million from Swedfund, and $15 million from Norfund, with the funding aimed at supporting high-impact agribusinesses to increase productivity and improve food security in rural areas.

British International Investment has announced an additional $4 million investment in SunCulture, a Kenya-based company that designs, manufactures, finances, and services solar energy systems and irrigation equipment.

Tunis, February 18, 2025 – Dabchy, the pioneering circular e-commerce marketplace for second-hand fashion and goods in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, announces the successful closing of a pre-Series A funding round – a substantial seven-figure investment that ranks as the third largest by an international venture capital firm in Tunisia over the past two years. The round was led by Janngo Capital, Africa’s largest gender-equal tech VC fund, recently backed by the Tunisian Fund of Funds ANAVA, alongside strategic co-investors, including the American venture funds Renew Capital and Village Capital. Several committed business angels also participated, including Karim Beguir, the founder of InstaDeep, one of Tunisia’s most renowned startups.

During the EIB Group Day, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P) announced the signing of a financial partnership worth €15 million for the new I&P Afrique Entrepreneurs 3 (IPAE 3) fund. The signing ceremony was attended by EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle as well as Jérémy Hajdenberg and Sébastien Boyé, co-CEOs of Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P).

Raenest, the global multi-currency accounts platform for individuals and businesses across Africa, today announced the completion of its $11M Series A funding. The round was led by QED Investors, with participation from Norrsken22, alongside follow-on investment from Ventures Platform, P1 Ventures, and Seedstars. This equity-based capital injection brings Raenest’s total venture funding to $14.3M.

Accra & London, February 11th, 2025 - Affinity Africa announces it has raised US$8 million in an oversubscribed Seed Round led by Grazia Equity and BACKED VC to accelerate its mission of delivering affordable and accessible financial services to the underserved and unbanked communities. The digital banking platform, which focuses on individuals and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), officially launched in Ghana in October 2024 and has onboarded over 50,000 customers to date, 65% of whom never had access to formal banking products and over 60% are women operating in the informal sector.

Sahel Capital through its Social Enterprise Fund for Agriculture in Africa (SEFAA), has provided a $500,000 working capital loan to Agriarche LLC, a Nigerian company dedicated to improving market access for smallholder farmers.

Proparco supports Mirova, an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers dedicated to sustainable investment, which is gathering a coalition of investors to support developments in regenerative agriculture, agroforestry, and sustainable forestry in emerging markets. These targets are closely aligned with Proparco’s recently developed Natural Capital strategy.

Saviu Ventures, one of the leading Venture Capital firmsin Francophone Africa, has reached the second close of Saviu II, its second fund, with support from institutional investors including the Dutch Good Growth Fund, Proparco, and AXIAN Investment, to continue investing in the region's most promising startups.

Mauritius/Abidjan, 5 February 2025 – Adiwale Fund I announces its investment in Jus Délice, the leading West African producer of organic pineapple juice and concentrate, based in Togo. This investment will enable the financing of a new production line and the exit of Moringa, a fund established by Edmond de Rothschild, and a majority investor in the company since 2018.

The investment will support UsPlus’ expansion of working capital solutions tailored to Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) operating across various critical sectors in South Africa.

DEG is providing South African online insurance platform Naked with USD 4 million in equity capital. This new injection of capital will support the company’s growth by deepening its investment in automation and AI, product and market expansion, and enhancing advertising to attract and grow its customer base. DEG first invested in Naked in 2023. The total volume of the current round of financing is approximately USD 38 million. The investors also include global impact investor BlueOrchard and the existing backers IFC (a member of the World Bank Group), Yellowwoods and Hollard.

Visa has joined African fintech Moniepoint as a new investor. The business banking and payments platform confirmed to TechCrunch that it received a “strategic investment” from the global payments giant as both companies look to drive financial inclusion and support the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Africa.

Mauritius/Abidjan, 22 January 2025 - Adiwale Fund I (“Adiwale”) announces a follow-on investment in Enko Education, a group of African international schools, to support its expansion across the continent. With 16 schools across 10 African countries (Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa, Togo and Zambia), Enko Education is the largest network of International Baccalaureate schools in Africa. It provides quality education to 7,500 students, half of which are female.

NAIROBI, Kenya, January 21, 2025 — Sevi, a fintech company regulated by the Central Bank of Kenya, is revolutionizing stock financing for wholesalers and retailers through its “stock now, pay later” platform. Sevi addresses the challenge of insufficient working capital by providing users with access to credit while ensuring suppliers are paid upfront.

London and Nairobi, January 14, 2024—Sistema.bio, a global leader in the delivery of biogas technology, financing, and services for family farmers worldwide, announces Novastar Ventures as its newest investor. Novastar has joined Sistema.bio’s recent internal financing round of USD 7.75 million with a USD 3.5 million investment. This will accelerate Sistema.bio’s expansion into new African markets, new agricultural and energy products and its overall growth.