(Left to Right) Dev Dhiman, managing director for Southeast Asia and emerging markets at Experian; Ben Elliott, Asia Pacific chief executive at Experian; Agatha Simanjuntak, president director of CekAja.com and Patrick Ellis, CekAja.com co-founder and group chief executive.
- DEG, Germany’s development finance agency, is investing US$4 million in C88 Financial Technologies, a fintech start-up, to drive financial inclusion in Indonesia and the Philippines. Other investors include the global information services provider Experian, which is leading a US$28 million Series C investment with participation from DEG and Europe-based duo ResponsAbility Investments. Other participants include Korea’s InterVest, FengHe Fund Management, Pelago Capital and Fuchsia Venture Capital, the venture capital arm of Thai lender Muang Thai Life Assurance.
- Vantage GreenX Fund Managers will provide funding to six solar and wind energy projects in South Africa via its second renewable energy fund, Vantage GreenX Note II. The fund has provided 2.05 billion rand to fund a total capacity of 433 megawatts, the constituent projects for which form the fourth round a procurement programme by the South African Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer (REIPP).
- International Finance Corporation will provide US$55 million to BIND Banco Industrial to expand the bank’s lending to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Argentina. BIND will use the funding to give SMEs longer-term financing than is currently available in their local market. More than 70 percent of Argentina’s SMEs have difficulties accessing financing.
- OMA Emirates Group, a payment solutions provider based in the United Arab Emirates, is scouting for acquisitions in India. The company provides card personalisation, payment issuance and acquiring systems. OMA group set up its first India venture fund last year and operates in nine countries in West Asia, Europe and Asia. It has an annual turnover of more than US$2 billion and much of its expansion has been led by mergers and acquisitions.
- Dutch development bank FMO is extending a convertible grant to Kenyan-based fintech platform Lendable. The grant includes a first-loss backstop to give commercial investors access to an additional US$4.5 million. It’s primary purpose is to fund loans given by alternative lenders working with Lendable to small and micro enterprises and low-income consumer borrowers. According to FMO, Lendable was founded in 2014 and currently provides structured finance facilities to off-grid energy firms, SME lenders and asset finance companies.
- Equity Group Holdings Ltd.’s financial technology arm is discussing how to collaborate on cross-border mobile payments and e-commerce discussions with six Ethiopian banks. According to the data services firm Bloomberg, Ethiopians living abroad transferred home around US$4.6 billion in 2017. Many African nations are increasingly drawn to the country, known as the Horn of Africa, after it suggested it would open its economy to foreign investment.
- The Rise Fund, TPG Growth‘s impact investment vehicle, has led a group of investors backing a Series A round for Dharma Platform, Inc. Additional terms remain undisclosed. Dharma is a fully-integrated Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) data platform. The Rise Fund is managed by TPG Growth, the growth equity and middle market buyout fund of global alternative asset firm TPG.
- The Rockefeller Foundation is due to invest US$20 million in India over the next three years to boost energy access in the country’s rural areas. The US-based foundation has raised an additional US$32 million in debt over the last 18 months for its rural electrification programme, with more capital coming soon, according to Christine Heenan, its vice president. Heenan has said the foundation aims to reach 100 million consumers over the next 10 years in India and Africa using the mini-grid model for last-mile electrification.
- An agreement to strengthen public financial management and improve the quality and efficiency of public sector spending in Namibia was recently signed by Namibian finance minister Carl H. G. Schlettwein and Dr Josepine Ngure, the African Development Bank‘s deputy director general of Southern Africa regional development. The partners have recently signed a loan agreement worth US$217.8 million to finance the second phase of the Namibia Economic Governance and Competitiveness Support Programme (EGCSP II).
- The investors in Abraaj’s Growth Markets Health Fund have appointed AlixPartners to oversee the separation of AGHF from the Abraaj Group to ensure the long term success of the Fund in delivering accessible, affordable and quality healthcare in developing countries. AGHF is a US$1 billion investment fund with a mandate to provide affordable, high-quality healthcare to under-served low and middle-income patients throughout sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The fund is now in the process of separating from the Abraaj Group to ensure continuity and build a stable platform for the future.