Inspiring Leadership & Sustainable Business Transformation in Africa
AFRICA – Quona Capital, an emerging market venture capital (VC) firm, has raised US$332 million for its third fund, exceeding its US$250 million aim and significantly exceeding the US$203 million it disclosed for its second fund in 2020. This raises the VC’s total fund raised to over US$745 million. The funding will help fintechs establish solutions that have an impact on…
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CAMEROON – The Radisson Blu hotel group has laid the foundation stone for the construction of a complex in Yaoundé, the Cameroonian capital. Funds for this project, valued at CFA37 billion (US$54.87m), will be raised from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). However, the local project carrier -BrightView Bethesda SA- offered Cameroonians the opportunity to become partners in…
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SOUTH AFRICA – De Novo Dairy, the first African company to use precision fermentation technology to produce nature identical, animal-free dairy proteins that replicate mammalian immuno-protein’s function and nutrition, has clinched an investment from UM6P Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm headquartered in Morocco. De Novo Dairy based in South Africa, specializes in the production of milk proteins using precision…
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AFRICA – African Women Impact Fund (AWIF) Initiatives has been launched with a commitment of US$60 million. These funds will provide capital to existing women owners and women fund managers across different asset classes and African regions. The AWIF is an Initiative of the Economic Commission of Africa (ECA) together with its partners: UN Women, the Office of the Special…
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ALGERIA – GroDesto, Algerian logistics platform, has announced that it has successfully raised 200 million DA (US$1.4M) through a public offering in order to become a joint stock company (SPA). GroDesto is an initiative to enable the distribution of consumer goods in Algeria. The startup consists of a mobile application and a website for logistics distribution. The project was awarded…
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AFRICA – Sixty eligible, black-founded startups from across Africa have been selected for the second cohort of Google for Startups Black Founders Fund (BFF) for Africa, sharing US$4 million in funding and support to enable them to scale up their work. The US$3 million Google for Startups Black Founders Fund Africa is part of Google’s racial equity commitments announced in…
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SOUTH AFRICA – Amethis Investment Fund Manager S.A., an investment fund manager dedicated to long-term responsible investing across the African continent, and Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity, have announced the final close of Amethis MENA Fund II (AMF II) on target at €120 million (US$121.82m). AMF II is the second fund of the Amethis franchise focused on the MENA region,…
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SOUTH AFRICA – South African e-health startup BusyMed, which is improving access to pharmacies for communities around the country, has raised additional funding to speed its expansion plans. The new round of investment was from E4E Africa, an entrepreneur-centric VC fund led by experienced entrepreneurs, aligned mentors and investors. “Access to quality healthcare and medicine is one of the major…
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Visa to support financial education in South Africa with US$200k SOUTH AFRICA – Visa, the global financial services giant, has announced that it recently signed a partnership with the Financial Services Consumer Education Foundation (FSCEF) worth US$200,000 to support financial education in South Africa. The partnership is specifically focused on two financial education programmes namely The Financial Literacy Speech Competition…
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SOUTH AFRICA – French infrastructure-focused equity investor STOA and Candi Solar, a clean energy company providing solar power to commercial and industrial (C&I) customers, have announced the closing of Candi’s Series B fundraising. STOA’s investment will allow Candi to finance new solar projects in India and Africa, particularly South Africa, with the aim to reach 800 MWp of solar capacity…
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