James Mwangi - Afrikan Heroes

ACV Secures £1 Million Funding for Climate-Smart Ventures in Africa

May 29, 2023

Africa Climate Ventures (ACV), a venture fund startup, has successfully raised £1 million from FSD Africa Investments (FSDAi) to invest in environmentally friendly projects across the African continent. The funds provided by FSDAi are in the form of a convertible loan, aimed at supporting ACV’s formalization process and enhancing its ability to attract investments from larger funds.

ACV has set a target to build a portfolio worth $45 million (Sh6.2 billion) by the end of 2024. James Mwangi, ACV’s CEO and founder, expressed excitement about FSDAi’s involvement, stating that they have already played a vital role in refining ACV’s model. Mwangi, renowned as a co-founder of Dalberg Advisors and a former global managing partner of the firm, further mentioned that FSDAi’s support is invaluable.

FSDAi is the investment arm of FSD Africa, a regional program funded by UK International Development and operating in over 30 countries from its base in Kenya. In addition to the capital investment in ACV, FSD Africa will provide £75,000 in grant funding to support the development of premium carbon credits and the marketing efforts of ACV’s portfolio and pipeline companies.

Looking ahead, FSDAi has secured the option to invest up to £8 million in ACV’s planned 2024 close. ACV aims to establish a portfolio of climate-positive businesses across Africa and intends to launch and scale 15 ventures within the next four years. The company plans to achieve this by investing in existing African businesses to create carbon revenue streams, introducing proven global climate technology to Africa, and facilitating the expansion of climate-smart technologies and business models across the continent.

ACV joins the list of innovative green investment vehicles backed by FSDAi, including Persistent Energy, which specializes in off-grid energy and e-mobility sectors in sub-Saharan Africa, and Nithio, an investor in renewable off-grid energy.

Anne-Marie Chidzero, the chief investment officer at FSDAi, expressed enthusiasm about supporting ACV’s partners and recognized the opportunity to attract global investment and finance that would position Africa as a leading climate investment destination. FSD Africa believes that ACV can enable African businesses to participate in global carbon markets and capitalize on the continent’s unparalleled potential for profitable climate-smart enterprises.

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Kenyan EdTech Platform Zydii Secures Pre-Seed Funding to Revolutionize Employee Training

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

Top Banker Suggests That Crypto Can Complement Mobile Money in Africa

May 21, 2022

The CEO of Kenya’s biggest lender by market value, James Mwangi of Equity Group Holdings has said that Cryptocurrency can supplement mobile money in Africa if regulators can be convinced of its benefits.

Many central banks on the continent have warned against trading cryptocurrency, while some have made it outright illegal. The Central African Republic is the only African nation to have adopted the digital assets and the South African Reserve Bank is formulating rules to protect investors.

“Africa will benefit substantially from leapfrogging on the Fourth Industrial technologies, and cryptocurrency is one of them,” James Mwangi said at the Bloomberg Invest: Focus on Africa conference. “Cryptocurrency can as well complement the mobile money wallet, but essentially, we need to talk to the regulators.”

In Kenya, mobile money transactions — which were only made possible through the willingness of the regulator to try out new technology — have surpassed the use of hard currency, Mwangi said. In the same way, the use of new technology can help increase Africa’s competitiveness because the continent lacks legacy systems, he said.

“We are hoping that the use of technology, particularly data and artificial intelligence, will be a major basis of leapfrogging because we are not talking about existing manufacturing capacity, we are starting afresh,” he said.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Kenyan Bank Equity Group To Launch A Venture Capital Fund For Startups

March 29, 2021

One of Kenya’s leading banks, Equity Group, is planning to set up venture capital and private equity funds through its fintech subsidiary, Finserve. The fund will make investments in startups in Kenya and within the East African region, writes the group’s CEO, James Mwangi in Global Innovation Index 2020 (.pdf), which is co-published by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), Cornell University of the US and non-profit private university INSEAD.

“Equity Investment Bank (EIB) is expected to grow as Kenya and other African economies shift from low-income to lower middle, upper middle, and, eventually, high-income economies. This will see the bank launch private equity and venture capital funds to offer equity investments for innovators and micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs),” said Mr Mwangi in his paper on financing innovation in Kenya .

“The group’s fintech arm, Finserve, is expected to set up a fund to invest in innovative ICTs for the development start-up sector providing digital solutions to Africa’s most pressing problems.”

Here Is What You Need To Know

Mwangi who did not disclose any information about the timeline for the setting up of the fund, however said the move was informed by the company’s realisation that there is still high unmet demand for financing innovation in developing countries such as Kenya.

The holding company’s decision to use EIB to set up investment funds signals a change in how banks use their investment arms, which many of them bought or developed between five and ten years ago with the intention of earning money from stock and fixed income trading.

After buying the trading licence of the defunct stockbroker Francis Thuo & Partners for a record Sh150 million in 2013, Equity formed EIB, hoping to use its large bank customer base to push business to the unit.

Pension Funds In Kenya To Set Aside 5% Of Their Funds For Investment In Local Startup Ecosystem

Last year, Kenya launched National Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) Policy which spells out a new set of policy guidelines intended to assist the East African country achieve its Vision 2030, which among many things, is anchored on helping Kenya attain the status of an industrialized information society as well as a knowledge-driven economy by 2030. Part of the policy is the encouragement of pension funds to set aside 5% of their funds for investments in local startup ecosystem.

This is a deal breaker, which if properly implemented, will unlock funding for startups in Kenya. Although the language of this rule is not compelling, this will most definitely be the right push for pension funds in Kenya willing to invest in early startups.

However, it should be noted that, already Kenya has allowed private equity and venture capital firms to raise funds from pension schemes after amending the Retirements Benefits Authority (RBA) Act in 2015. Since then, this has allowed pension schemes to invest up to 10 per cent of their assets in private equity and venture capital firms (firms which, most times, invest in startups and SMEs). The new 5% rule under the new policy, however, will encourage pension funds to invest directly in startups or venture capital firms investing in early stage startups, out of the permitted 10%.

Apart from the 5% rule, there are other funding plans considered under the policy, such as a proposed “anchor fund” that will invest in qualifying Kenyan ventures for a proportionate equity consideration on a first-loss basis, thereby motivating co-funders to commit significant capital to qualified entities.

Also to be created is “a rotating venture capital fund” to be chaired by a person to be determined by the Cabinet Secretary for ICT with membership of a representative of the Kenya Sovereign Fund; the Kenya Private Sector Alliance; the CEOs of the three largest private sector pension funds at any one time; and four other members with ICT expertise as the Cabinet Secretary for ICT may from time to time determine.

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

Equity Group venture capital fund Equity Group venture capital fund