Last week in brief.. It was quiet in Africa's private capital markets last week. And the few deals that were done tended to the smaller end of the scale. We heard of the suspension of a partially private equity-backed healthcare project in Nigeria. Of the two fundraising items we cover, a new debt fund grabbed the limelight. And two prominent executives in the ecosystem are changing jobs.
In deal news, Inside Capital Partners announced an investment in Latitude Hotels Group, a boutique chain establishing itself in sub-Saharan Africa's southeastern region. The deal is being transacted on behalf of Inside's first fund, which held a first close at $34 million in December 2017. The capital will be used for the development of three additional hotels, which, once completed, would bring the chain's portfolio of properties to a total of six.
PG Impact Investments is backing Tugende, the provider of lease-to-own financing for drivers of “bodas” or motorcycle taxis in Uganda, with a loan. The Swiss-based impact investor is lending $5 million to the Kampala-based firm will be used continue scaling its model in order to reach more clients, develop new products and expand to more underserved communities. This is the second debt investment made into Tugende within the last 6 months, following a similar sized loan from OPIC in August last year.
The remaining two deals of the week come took place in the venture capital space. Egypt's Algebra Ventures is making an additional investment in portfolio company GoodsMart, as the online grocery startup gets ready for its Series B. The Egyptian venture capital firm had invested $750,000 in the GoodsMart's Series A in May 2017. The firm is growing significantly, reportedly trebling its sales in the last 6 months alone.
Further south, in Nairobi, mobile research startup mSurvey announced that it has received backing from Proparco. The structure and value of the French DFI's investment in has not yet been revealed. The fresh capital will be used to underpin mSurvey's service and business development plans as well as its continued expansion into other countries such as Nigeria and South Africa.
Solar financing provider SunFunder has announced that it has held the first close for its latest fund. The Solar Energy Transformation Fund has received a total of $42.5 million in commitments from a quartet of investors, the largest of which comes from OPIC, as well as Calvert Impact Capital, Ceniarth and the IKEA Foundation. Eventually, SunFunder hopes to have raised $85 million for the fund, making it their largest investment vehicle.
The European Investment Bank is mulling a potential commitment to LeapFrog Investment's latest consumer fund. The DFI is considering a $36 million investment in LeapFrog Emerging Consumer Fund III, a 10-year closed-end fund that will back SME and mid-market growth capital opportunities in Africa as well as emerging Asia. The fund's final close goal is said to be between $600 million and $800 million.
We heard reports that AXA Mansard Insurance's board of directors resolved to suspend plans for a greenfield hospital development in Lagos at a meeting almost two weeks ago, due to"unforseen circumstances." In March 2017, the insurance company announced it was leading a group of investors, which included private equity investor African Capital Alliance and the IFC, in backing the development which was to have consisted of a 150-bed multi-specialty hospital and two 10-bed primary healthcare centers.
Having joined LGT Impact in April last year, high-profile emerging markets investor Sev Vettivetpillai is reportedly stepping down as the impact investment firm's CEO, apparently due to differences about strategy. When he joined last year, he reportedly had a mandate to expand the unit significantly and had plans to build up a team of about 50 investment professionals and raise regional funds for Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Europe.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has a new Africa Director. Cheikh Oumar Seydi joins them following a 21-year career at the IFC, where, most recently, he was the Regional Director for sub-Saharan Africa, working out the development finance institution's Nairobi office.
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 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 markets. Mr. Cunningham holds a Bachelors degree from Liverpool John Moores University in the UK.
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