Weekly Digest 5

01 Sep 2021

A collection of news across the African private equity and venture capital industry |

Sequoia Heritage, Stripe and others invest US$200mn in African fintech Wave at US$1.7bn valuation

Wave, the U.S. and Senegal-based mobile money provider, has raised US$200mn in Series A round of funding. This investment is the largest-ever Series A round for the region and is geared toward taking on telecom-led mobile money

Source: TechCrunch

Arise invests US$75mn in Ecobank

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, the Lomé based parent company to Ecobank has announced an investment of US$75mn from Arise B.V

Source: Arise Invest

AgriCorp International raises US$17.5mn in series A funding round

AgriCorp International, a Nigerian spice producing, processing and exporting company raises US$17.5mn in series A funding to increase its processing ability to up to 7,000 metric tonnes.

Source: AgriCorp International

CDC-backed Energy Access Relief Fund reaches first close of US$68mn

A first of its kind relief fund launched closing its first round at US$68mn. The Energy Access Relief Fund (EARF) has set a target of over US$80mn in order to protect energy access for at least 20 million people across sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia. The Energy Access Relief Fund—managed by SIMA—is an unprecedented partnership of 16 governments, foundations and investors and aims to provide essential financial support to energy access companies in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

Source: CDC Group

Dubai's Swvl secures US$35.5mn pre-funding to accelerate plan to expand into Africa

Dubai-based transport provider Swvl has announced that several investors have completed the pre-funding of US$35.5mn of subscriptions raised in connection with its proposed business combination with Queens Gambit Growth Capital.

Source: Arabian Business

Fortis Green Renewables Investment Management reaches first close for its Green Fund I

Raising capital from American individuals, family offices, and wealth management firms, the Fund will invest in both greenfield and operating assets across the spectrum of renewable energy generation technologies.

Source: Newswire.com

Arise sells its stake in Banque Populaire du Rwanda Plc (BPR) to Kenya's KCB Group

This development comes on the back of securing all the regulatory approvals in Kenya, and Rwanda and has resulted in KCB becoming the majority shareholder in BPR, Rwanda’s second-largest bank.

Source: Arise Invest

LoftyInc Capital Management's third fund reaches first close

The LoftyInc Afropreneur Fund 3 is a US$10mn fund that comes off the success of the LoftyInc Afropreneurs Fund 2 (LAF2) which made its first unicorn exit through the investment in Flutterwave. As a technology fund LAF3 will invest in Seed-to-Series A tech-driven companies that are building the future for Africa’s digital infrastructure while banking on strong local and regional support.

Source: Tech in Africa

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