Moove, a company that offers revenue-based vehicle finance and was started in Nigeria, has announced that it is raising $30 million in a private placement Islamic bond launch.
The sukuk is being organised by Franklin Templeton’s Middle East division and is structured as a sukuk al-istisna, a sharia-compliant debt arrangement.
In addition to launching in London this year, Moove stated that at least 60% of the vehicles it finances will be electric.
“Moove will use the funds to scale to 2,000 EVs in the UAE over the coming year,” Ladi Delano, its co-founder and co-chief executive, said in a statement. “Moove estimates that this fleet of EVs will contribute to a reduction of over 5,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year to help cities like Dubai meet their ambitious Net Zero targets.”
Read also Nigeria’s Moove Raises $16.8M New Funding, Targets UK Expansion
Tekton Ventures, Palm Drive Capital, MUFG Innovation Partners, Clocktower Technology Ventures, Speedinvest, Left Lane Capital, AfricInvest, and Kreos Capital are some of the equity investors in Moove.
Dino Kronfol, chief investment officer of global sukuk and MENA fixed income at Franklin Templeton, asserted that for private lending to expand in the Gulf, policymakers must provide encouragement.
“This is an asset class that needs nurturing here,” he said. “These are impactful businesses. They create jobs immediately. And there’s a lot of financing that can go towards these types of businesses that would really help the economy and their (Gulf) policy goals over the medium term,” Kronfol added.
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Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh