Convergence Partners - Afrikan Heroes

South Africa’s 42Markets Raises $10M to Democratize Financial Markets

April 26, 2023

Convergence Partners, a private equity investor focused on technology in Sub-Saharan Africa, has invested $10 million in growth funding in 42Markets Group, a fintech incubator and investment group for financial and capital markets.

The investment will support 42Markets’ portfolio companies, Mesh, Andile and FXFlow, with the majority of the funding being deployed in Mesh.

Brandon Doyle, CEO of Convergence Partners

Mesh is a multi-sided platform designed to make financial markets more accessible to all. It allows market participants to issue, trade, settle and lifecycle-manage multiple classes of digital securities. The platform was launched in South Africa a year ago and will use the investment to expand operations and invest in regulatory compliance. The investment will also allow Mesh to launch its next operating company in the EU.

Andile Ngcaba, chairman of Convergence Partners, says that he is excited about the investment in 42Markets, as the group’s expertise in fintech, regtech, and decentralised finance aligns perfectly with Convergence Partners’ vision of bridging the digital divide and improving access to underserved regions. The investment will allow the two firms to work together to democratise financial markets and enhance accessibility.

Brandon Doyle, CEO of Convergence Partners, says that the investment in 42Markets marks one of the firm’s first investments in the digital transformation of financial markets. Doyle sees 42Markets as an emerging winner in this space, with a long track record of consistent double-digit growth and a quality leadership team with deep expertise and experience in the capital markets.

The investment in 42Markets Group is part of Convergence Partners’ Convergence Partners Digital Infrastructure Fund (CPDIF), which raised $296 million earlier this year, surpassing its initial target by over 18%. Fourteen leading global development finance institutions (DFIs) based in Europe, the US, and Africa are investors in CPDIF. 42Markets hopes to engage with these investors to explore further opportunities to work together.

42Markets’ other group businesses operating in Africa include Andile, a capital markets services and advisory firm that brings market and industry expertise to help banks streamline and automate their IT operations infrastructure, and FXFlow, an early-stage platform business that creates value for importers and exporters in regulated markets.

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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

Convergence Partners Launches $120m New Fund For Africa’s Digital Inclusion

July 24, 2021

Convergence Partners, a private equity firm focused on the technology industry in Sub-Saharan Africa, announced the US$120 million first closure of its third fund, the Convergence Partners Digital Infrastructure Fund (CPDIF). The fund’s ultimate goal is to raise $250 million. Convergence Partners remains Africa’s largest private equity investor in digital infrastructure, with more than US$400 million under management.

Andile Ngcaba, Chairman of Convergence Partners, — *Andile Ngcaba, Chairman of Convergence Partners*

The CDC Group (the UK’s development finance institution), the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and Proparco (the private sector arm of the Agence Française de Développement — AFD Group) are among the investors in CPDIF.

“We are delighted to have achieved this milestone particularly given the headwinds in African PE fundraising generally, and the impact of the Covid pandemic on business activity, over the past 12 months. We are very pleased with the level of support from both repeat and new investors and believe this reflects our solid track record and the opportunity CPDIF presents at this crucial time in both a tech and African context,” says Brandon Doyle CEO of Convergence Partners.

Here Is What You Need To Know

The infrastructure needs of emerging growth topics in the digital infrastructure ecosystem, such as 5G, Cloud, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), finance, and network virtualisation, will drive CPDIF investments. CPDIF made its first investment in Ctrack, which was revealed earlier this year. As a data analytics company that serves the fleet management and insurance industries, it lies at the crossroads of AI and IoT, with all of its products being supplied via the cloud.

The fund also has a strong and measurable impact objective, and will boost entrepreneurship, innovation, skills development, and job creation by dramatically increasing access to the internet and all of the critical digital tools it provides through its participation in the development of Africa’s digital infrastructure. In terms of broadband and digital technology access, Africa is by far the most underserved continent. Despite progress in the deployment of digital infrastructure on the continent, fixed broadband adoption in Sub-Saharan Africa remains low, with just approximately 7% of the population having access.

CPDIF is a continuation of the strategy that Convergence Partners has successfully adopted throughout its funds under management since its creation in 2006. Convergence Partners has invested in submarine cable systems, geostationary satellites, terrestrial long-haul, metro, and access fibre, wireless networks, data centers, and network services such as enterprise connectivity, SD-WAN, fintech and healthtech solutions, data switching, and more over the last 15 years.

“In the past 20 years, we have witnessed the exponential growth of internet penetration on the African continent. Internet penetration in sub-Saharan Africa alone has grown tenfold, compared to the threefold increase the rest of the world has seen. As Convergence Partners, we pride ourselves on contributing to this growth through our numerous communication infrastructure investments across the Continent. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that there is still much work to drive digital inclusion. Today, Africa is experiencing the highest growth in international internet bandwidth compared to any other region in the world. As we embark on this journey as CPDIF, the next twelve years will be spent continuing to build on our original vision of ubiquitous pan-African communications. As the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) commences in the same year, we embark on the next step of our journey as Convergence Partners. We believe that AfCFTA will benefit immensely from the availability of digital infrastructure. Our greatest strength is our knowledge of technology, investments, and deep understanding of the African market and cultures,” Andile Ngcaba, Chairman of Convergence Partners, said.

Convergence Partners digital fund Convergence Partners digital fund

African Cleantech Startups Invited To Apply For $11.5m Afri-Plastics Challenge By Nesta Challenges

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer