The MASSIF Fund has made 425 investments in 50 countries to finance more than one million micro-entrepreneurs
- The Dutch government’s MASSIF Fund, managed by FMO, has passed €1 billion in total investments since its inception in 2006. The Dutch development bank this month announced that the fund has tripled its initial capital investment of €325 million in an effort to finance small and medium-sized enterprises.
- Little Green Beverages, a producer of soft drinks backed by Ethos Private Equity and Nedbank Private Equity, has agreed to buy SoftBev. SoftBev will join the company’s Refreshhh! range of soft drinks, mineral water, mixers and energy drinks.
- Proparco has announced an equity investment of US$3 million in JUMO, a tech start-up that offers access to financial services via mobile phones. JUMO provides a suite of products to promote financial inclusion in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia and Ghana.
- Helios‘ portfolio firm Vivo Energy, a fuel firm that sells Shell‘s fuels and lubricants across Africa, has announced its plan to list on the London Stock Exchange in May 2018. The listing is expected to put the company’s value at US$3 billion- US$4 billion.
- Another Helios-backed firm Telkom Kenya and Bharti Airtel are considering merging their operations in Kenya in anticipation of Telkom’s acquisition of Airtel’s local assets.
- Abraaj is preparing a partial exit from South African food and personal care business Libstar. Libstar is planning to list on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and the company could raise up to US$124 million to settle a percentage of its debt.
- Mauritius’ Financial Services Commission has suspended licences for seven closed-end funds registered and managed by Quantum Global Group. Quantum Global has said it has asked for a full explanation for the decision and for the company to receive a fair hearing. The commission has said the decision followed a restriction order from the Supreme Court of Mauritius, though has not provided details of the underlying cause.
- CDC, the UK’s development finance institution, has made a US$39 million loan to Tè Power Company SASU to build a 50 Megawatt thermal power plant in Conakry, the capital city of Guinea.
- CDC has also signed a memorandum of understanding for a supply chain finance programme with Standard Chartered Bank to increase financing for SME suppliers in Africa and South Asia. The aim of the programme is to stimulate economic growth and trade opportunities in the regions. Countries that could benefit first include Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana and Kenya.
- The Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund has completed its latest round of fundraising with a total sum of US$385 million earmarked for longterm debt investments in infrastructure projects on the continent.
- The African Local Currency Bond Fund has signed investment agreements with the US government’s development finance institution, OPIC and the African Development Bank. OPIC has put US$40 million into the fund, while the African Development Bank has provided a senior loan of US$10 million to catalyse Africa’s local currency corporate bond markets. The loan is the first local currency financing the fund has received since incorporation in 2012.
Thank you for this post. Its very inspiring.