Last week in brief...Lagos-based Verod Capital has won the auction to acquire AXA Mansard Insurance's pension business in Nigeria. The insurance company had put the unit on the block earlier this year as part of its rationalization strategy to focus on life, property and casualty, and health insurance. With the pensions transfer window finally opening in June, Verod is confident that the business has significant growth upside.

In South Africa, Sanari Capital tells us that they've made the first investment for their latest fund, which has yet to hold its first close. The deal is for LightWave LiDAR, a microLIDAR sensor technology business. 27four Investment, one of the fund's first LPs, is backing the deal and warehousing the asset until Sanari reaches its first close for the Sanari Lower and Mid-Market Fund. The transaction earns Sanari a couple of seats on LightWave's board.

The other deals of the week were also in the technology sector. Staying in South Africa, Rand Merchant Investments is investing additional capital into Guidepostthrough its innovation hubAlphaCode. The healthcare platform focused on diabetes consultation and management. RMI had acquired a 25.1% stake in the business last November, but how large a stake it now owns has not been disclosed.

WorkPay, a human resources platform based in Nairobi, is also the subject of a follow-on investment. Kepple Africa Ventures, a Japanese venture firm, led a $2.1 million seed round for the startup, having backed it originally last year with $100,000. The other investors in the round include Y Combinator, Soma Capital and Musha Ventures. WorkPay will use the capital for further technology development and to help build its book of business.

We covered two venture investments in Egypt this week. Paymob landed the larger of the two investments. The payments fintech is the beneficiary of $3.5 million from a trio of investors led by Global Ventures, the other two being FMO and A15. Paymob's aiming to expand aggressively both in Africa and across the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

For the second Egyptian deal, Fatura, a B2B eCommerce startup that connects FMCG wholesalers and retailers, has raised a 7-figure seed round led by Disruptech. Two other investors participated, namely Cairo Angels and EFG EV. Once again, the capital will be used to support the startup's expansion plans across Africa - its ultimate aim is to be the biggest eWholesaler on the continent.

Jumping to fundraising, Tembo Capital has launched its latest mining fund. The private equity firm's goal for this, its third fund, is $300 million. The fund's investment team will source junior and mid-tier mining opportunities in countries around the world including Africa, following a similar strategy to its two predecessors.

France's development agency, AFD, has signed a line of credit agreement with the Trade & Development Bank to provide non-sovereign financing for climate infrastructure projects across Africa. The $150 million credit line will bolster TDB's green financing role in Eastern and Southern Africa, making more loan capital available to projects that help countries and organizations adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change.

On the people moves front, Africa50's COO Carole Wamuyu Wainaina, is joining Helios Towers's 10-member board as a non-executive director with immediate effect. Her extensive business, investment, and market experience on the continent is expected to buttress the company's expansion plans.

And finally, CDC has hired a Coverage Director for Egypt, cementing its presence more permanently in the country. Sherene Shohdy joins the DFI from the IFC and has both development finance and private sector investment experience. She started her role in July and is based

That's it for this week. As always, you can review these and other stories by clicking through to this week's preview edition of the newsletter.

Allan Cunningham

Allan Cunningham is a senior media executive who has spent the last 15 years of his career working for some of the world’s most respected M&A and Private Equity media companies including Dow Jones’s publications Private Equity Analyst and VentureWire and most recently, The Deal. He has built a number of successful digital and event content businesses, both subscription and sponsor-supported, delivering information and content-marketing services to clients in the M&A and broader deal ecosystem. He recently struck out on his own and launched Rowayton Press, a multi-platform media company focused on the private capital opportunities in emerging and frontier

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