Swedfund, a Swedish development financing agency, said it will invest $45 million in medium-sized African businesses. This cash will be committed indirectly to two African funds focusing on local business financing. BluePeak Private Capital Fund and Vantage Mezzanine Fund IV are the names of these funds.
The first vehicle is a $200 million generalist fund that invests in African SMEs and mid-caps. It is run by the mezzanine fund management firm BluePeak and has three investment operations on the continent last April in the real estate, pharmaceutical, and telecom infrastructure sectors. The second fund is a generalist vehicle that provides tailored finance in the form of debt and equity to African medium-sized and high-growth firms.
Swedfund explains in its announcement of this investment in these two African funds that it seeks to support players who are helping to address the financing gap in Africa’s middle market through contributions to SMEs and mid-cap enterprises.
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“Many medium-sized African companies are underserved, as they lack guarantees and a formal credit history to attract financing from banks,” laments the Swedish financial institution, which hopes to “strengthen the growth and resilience of SMEs and medium-sized enterprises, in order to promote job creation and local economic development” through this indirect investment.
This operation follows a recent investment in the renewable energy sector in Sub-Saharan Africa, which was completed in early June. Serengeti Energy, a renewable energy resource operator, has received a $20 million investment from the investor.
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Swedfund’s financial assistance is to expand the availability of long-term growth capital for medium-sized businesses. “This, in turn, should result in significant job creation and expanded access to key goods and services, such as medications and connectivity and communication services,” he claims.
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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