cat/small-ticket-equity
Kenyan-based Equity Bank Group will significantly increase its funding to small-and-medium enterprises, real estate and manufacturing sectors in the near future, James Mwangi, the group managing director, has said.
EnterpreneurCountry, an entrepreneurial ecosystem with a 133,000 strong community from Europe, Africa, Asia and South America, is expanding into Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, by GDP, with strategic plans to fill the funding vacuum in the technology start-up scene.
AgDevCo is a social impact investor and agribusiness project developer, incorporated as a non-for-profit distribution, limited company in the UK. We invest patient capital in the form of debt and equity into early stage agribusinesses and act as promoter or co-promoter of greenfield agriculture opportunities. AgDevCo currently operates with locally managed subsidiaries in five countries in sub-Saharan Africa (Mozambique, Ghana, Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania).
Last month, GE announced the launch of a 200 million rand (USD 18.7 million) fund for South African small and medium enterprises. This fund is part of a broader pan-African engagement which will inject more than 5 billion rand (over USD $467,000,000) into the continent. The fund will combine technical and general business development services and financing to build a more competitive cadre of local suppliers long-term. Early stage to mature SMEs that fit within the GE supply chain will be eligible for training, support and funding.
The outlook for private equity (PE) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in 2014 is promising. The potential for continued improvement in the political and regulatory backdrops of many countries, and strong investment demand, are powering economic and business expansion across the continent. Many investors now realise that one of the best means of capturing and supporting this growth is by providing much-needed equity capital -- especially to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) -- coupled with hands-on guidance and management.
As regulatory pressure is seen to be squeezing banks’ liquidity, SMEs-focused banks now stand the chance of attracting funds from private equity (PE) investors aimed at growing Nigeria’s Small and Medium Enterprises.
At the African Private Equity & Venture Capital Association our mission is to promote, develop and stimulate private equity and venture capital in Africa. Our member organisations span private equity and venture capital fund managers, institutional investors, foundations and endowments, international development institutions, professional service firms and academia. This diverse membership is united by a common purpose: to be part of the African private equity and venture capital growth story.
The Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sector has attracted $10 million investment in the past 18 months from African Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (AVCA).
Private equity has been a recent and powerful catalyst for economic growth on the African continent, and it shows every sign of continuing to do so. The key to the effectiveness of the private equity model is that, by addressing the funding needs of African companies, it gives its investments a multiplier effect: Private equity not only creates profits for investors (e.g., limited partners, general partners and portfolio companies) but also engenders economic and social benefits for consumers, and has indirect effects on the stability and vibrancy of local and regional economies. At the same time, private equity channels significant flows of international capital into Africa. In other words, whether it is in building sustainable housing or health services options, private equity ultimately offers Africa more than just capital. Furthermore, each private equity success story represents one more step for Africa in its quest to permanently establish itself as a preferred destination for global capital flows.
