The
weekly roundup of Africa's Private Capital news
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Here's the latest weekly wrap of the most interesting Africa-related private equity, infrastructure and venture capital deal stories, market opinion articles and information pieces.
Thank you for being a reader and we look forward to continuing to keep you informed on the private capital investment themes, deals and fundraisings in Africa.
We'd be delighted if you shared it with any interested colleagues and/or partners. If they would like to receive their own weekly copy, they're more than welcome to sign up here.
As always, if you have any tips, suggestions or questions, please reach out to Allan Cunningham at
[email protected]
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This week's issue supported by...
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Perhaps we can blame it on the Easter break, but it was very quiet on the private equity, venture capital and infrastructure deals front last week. That's not to say nothing notable happened--it did. In the eleventh deal for its €150 Maghreb Private Equity Fund III,
AfricInvest, the mid-cap private equity investor took a significant minority stake in
Outsourcia, a 12-year old contact center, business process outsourcing and digital services provider based in Morocco. The capital will be used to push the company's expansion plans further, supporting a corporate development initiative named "Acquire and Migrate" to other African regions intended to maintain the strong growth trajectory the business has enjoyed since its launch.
In a first for
Andreesen Horowitz, the noted Silicon Valley venture firm announced its first deal in a company whose primary market is in Sub-Saharan Africa, leading a $9.2 million Series A round in
Branch.co, a mobile financial services provider with offices in San Francisco and Nairobi. The company provides users with a free-to-download mobile app, asks permission to access and analyze data on their phone which it then uses to assess the user's creditworthiness and grant micro-loans which are distributed and repaid via the M-Pesa mobile money platform. Early backers of the firm,
Khosla Impact Fund and
Formation 8, who originally provided the start-up with $1.4 million seed capital also participated in the round.
Helios Investment Partners announced the completion of its deal to acquire a 100% interest in
Crown Agents Bank and
Crown Agents Investment Management, two financial services units from parent company, the international development company,
Crown Agents. The deal
was originally announced in August last year. Financial terms for the deal for Crown Agents Bank which has $1.1 billion in assets or Crown Agents Investment Management, which managers $1.5 billion, remained undisclosed.
In the only fundraising news from Africa last week,
GroTech's venture capital fund landed a significant commitment from wealth manager
Caleo Capital, bringing the total for its initial raise to R62 million or approximately $4.2 million. The fund will now start the process of building a portfolio of high-growth technology companies.
Finally, there were a number of articles we found covering a range of regulatory and policy issues...the risks involved for deal makers planning transactions that involve entities with activities in Africa, a synopsis of the main elements and requirements laid down by the Electrify Africa Act and a guest blog post in the
Huffington Post
by Megan Rapp, the Africa Team Lead for
USAID
's Development Credit Authority on the evolution and development impact of the institution's relationship with Ecobank
to support financing across a variety of sectors in Africa. All three are worth a read.
To read more on these and other stories from the last week, please scroll down for the abstracts and links.
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AfricInvest takes significant minority stake in Morocco-based Outsourcia Image Credit: Outsourcia |
Private Equity
Helios completes Crown Agents deal
Africa-focused private equity firm, Helios Investment Partners, completed the deal to acquire two financial services units from international development company, Crown Agents. The transaction to take a 100% interest in Crown Agents Bank, which has $1.1 billion in assets, and Crown Agents Investment Management, which manages $1.5 billion in assets, was first announced in August last year.
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Private Equity
AfricInvest takes significant minority stake in Outsourcia
AfricInvest is taking a significant minority stake in Outsourcia Group, a contact center, business process outsourcing and digital services provider based in Morocco. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The investment marks the eleventh transaction for the pan-Africa mid-cap focused private equity manager's €150 million Maghreb Private Equity Fund III.
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Ventue Capital
Andreesen Horowitz in $9mln round for Branch.co
Noted Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreesen Horowitz is making its first investment in a company whose primary market is in Sub-Saharan Africa, leading a $9.2 million Series A round in Branch.co, a mobile financial services provider with offices in San Francisco and Nairobi. Joining the round are a couple of the company's earlier backers, Khosla Impact Fund and Formation 8, who originally provided the start-up with $1.4 million seed capital.
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Funds & Fundraising News...
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Venture Capital
GroTech hits $4.2mln for initial fund close
Landing a significant commitment from Caleo Capital, GroTech's venture capital fund has raised an initial R62 million or approximately $4.2 million and will now start the process of building a portfolio of high-growth technology companies. According to the private placement memorandum accessed through GroTech's website, the fund was originally targeting a raise of R50 million by the end of February 2016.
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Sovereign Wealth
Nigeria's Sovereign Wealth Fund assets grow by 20%
Nigeria's Sovereign Investment Authority, which was established with $1 billion in seed capital in 2011,
published its consolidated financial statement for 2015 last week, reporting that the value of assets under management increased by 20.4% over the prior year.
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This week's issue supported by...
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The Act that puts a framework on Power Africa
Following the passage of the Electrify Africa Act in early February, a brief synopsis of the main elements and requirements of the legislation and the institutions involved in implementing it.
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Perspectives
Is private equity gathering strength in Southern Africa?
Outside South Africa, private equity capital is less used as a source of funding by companies. Due in part to a lack of regulation and policies to regulate the asset class. Erika van der Merwe, SAVCA's CEO, speaking at an event in Windhoek, Namibia, sees that that is all bound to change.
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This week's issue supported by...
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21-24 June, London, UK
The 18th Annual Africa Energy Forum (AEF) will take place from 21-24 June in London at The O2 Continental hotel.
AEF has established itself as the international marketplace where governments and power utilities of Africa unite with the energy industry to focus on delivering power infrastructure projects across Africa. All the players in the industry are in the same place at the same time.
Over 1800 industry stakeholders are expected to attend in June 2016 including; government representatives, utilities, financial investors, power technology providers, power developers, EPC contractors and more.
With massive demand for power in Africa and international investors keen to fund power projects, this is the most established African power event that African governments and private sector attend year on year. To be added to the mailing list for this meeting, please email
[email protected]
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Companies, People & Profiles...
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Profiles
EcoBank and USAID; a profile in mobilizing private capital
A guest blog post in the
Huffington Post by Megan Rapp, the Africa Team Lead for USAID's Development Credit Authority on the evolution and development impact of the institution's relationship with Ecobank to support financing across a variety of sectors in Africa. The relationship is just one of over 340 partnerships the U.S. Government Agency has entered into since 1999, allowing it to mobilize some $4.2 billion in capital across 74 countries.
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Investment Analyst at Enko Capital
Based in Johannesburg, South Africa
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Investment Director, Corporate Finance at CDC
Based in London, United Kingdom
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Investment Director, Project Finance at CDC
Based in London, United Kingdom
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Investment Associate at CrossBoundary
Based in Bamako, Mali
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Investment Associate at Enko Capital
Based in Johannesburg, South Africa
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Associate for Africa-focused Private Equity firm
Based in London, United Kingdom
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Associate, Development Impact at CDC
Based in London, United Kingdom
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Regional Investment Director at leading DFI
Based in Ogun, Nigeria
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Investment Manager, Infrastructure Equity at CDC
Based in London, United Kingdom
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Project Finance & Corporate Finance Associates for law firm
Based in London, United Kingdom
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Zambia International Investment Forum
Lusaka, April 21st to April 22nd, 2016
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BRVM Investment days 2016
Dubai, April 18th, 2016
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Africa's Investment Prospects - The 2016 Annual Debate
London, April 20th, 2016
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13th Annual AVCA Conference
Addis Ababa, April 25th to April 27th, 2016
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Southern Africa Energy & Infrastructure Summit
Maputo, May 4th to May 6th, 2016
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Africa Financial Services Investment Conference 2016
London, May 5th to May 6th, 2016
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Global Private Equity Conference
Washington, DC, May 9th to May 12th, 2016
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18th Annual Africa Energy Forum
London, June 21st to June 24th, 2016
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We hope you found the digest to be a useful summary of the major happenings in Africa's private capital markets last week. We'd love it if you shared it with colleagues and business partners. They can sign up for free
here.
Best wishes for a productive week - if you have any tips, suggestions, questions or comments, please get in touch.
All the best,
- Allan
Allan Cunningham
Editor & Publisher
AfCD | Africa Capital Digest
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Africa Capital Digest is a product of Rowayton Press
Rowayton, CT 06853, USA
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Copyright © 2014-2015 Rowayton Press, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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