Amethis scores an exit and lands a fund close, Sanlam's new sustainable infra fund, Agricorp scoops $17.5mln, and more...

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Last week in brief... Amethis had another busy week last week. The Africa-focused private equity fund manager followed up its exit from Fidelity Bank Ghana to LeapFrog Investments the week before last with news of another exit and a fund close last week.

The exit was another secondary sale. This time, Paris-based Amethis has sold its 22% stake in Sodigaz Group to African Infrastructure Investment Managers, or AIIM. Amethis first backed the Burkinabe distributor of LPG bottled gas in 2017 via the Amethis West Africa fund, a €45 million sub-investment vehicle of Amethis's first fund. A representative declined to disclose how much the stake sale's returns are for the fund.

Amethis also wrapped up the first close for its second MENA fund last week, winning commitments totaling 70% of the firm’s final target. The fund, Amethis MENA II, now has €85 million (or approximately $101 million) which Amethis raised from a variety of investors. These included DFIs such as European Bank for Reconstruction & Development, European Investment Bank, International Finance Corporation, and Proparco, as well as a group of qualified private investors built in partnership with the Edmond de Rothschild group, Amethis’s original underwriter.

The fund will make growth equity investments in SMEs and midcap businesses in the Middle East and North Africa region, taking either control or minority positions in the firms it backs from investments sized between €5 million up to as much as €15 million. Its strategy will be led and implemented by Amethis professionals Wilfried Poyet, Adnane Zerhouni, and Toufic Khoueiry.

Africa-related fundraising was buoyant last week compared to most weeks so far in 2021. Sanlam Investments launched a new debt fund to invest in environmentally sustainable infrastructure projects in South Africa. The fund, which already has R500 million (or $35 million) in anchor commitments, is aiming to raise a total of R5 billion (or $350 million) by the time it holds its final close which it will use for debt deals in several infrastructure sectors such as renewable energy, transportation, communication, health, and water.

The Energy Access Relief Fund, an energy debt fund backed by 16 governments, foundations, and investors, was launched with commitments totaling $68 million last week. The fund, which is managed by SIMA, has been coordinated by impact investment manager Acumen and is looking to raise over $80 million to invest in subordinated, low-interest debt deals in 90 or so energy access companies in Africa and Asia. The fund's investors to date include public and private institutions such as CDC Group, The Rockefeller Foundation, DFC, The World Bank, the Shell, and IKEA Foundations, and others.

Early-stage investor LoftyInc Capital Management announced the first close for its third fund last week, garnering commitments from a variety of investors, a substantial number of whom are African high net worth investors, Millenials, startup founders, as well as institutions. Among them are FBNQuest Funds, The Green Investment Club, and Andela’s CEO and Co-Founder, Jeremy Johnson.

The $10 million fund targets investment opportunities in Seed-to-Series A stage technology and technology-enabled startups across Africa, and has already made 25 investments in startups operating in the eCommerce, fintech, media, logistics, and healthcare sectors. Initial ticket sizes are expected to range from $50,000 to $250,000, with the fund having the potential to invest as much as $1 million in follow-on deals.

Two small agribusiness deals took place last week. In the larger of the two, Nigeria's Agricorp International, a spice producing and exporting startup, raised a mix of equity and working capital financing from a trio of investors led by Vami Nigeria. Of the total $17.5 million funding, Vami is providing $11.5 million as equity with the balance being invested by One Capital and AFEX. The 3-year old startup will use this Series A funding round to increase its processing capacity to 7,000 metric tonnes.

Across the continent in Uganda, Pearl Capital Partners and FCA Investments have teamed up to invest in AMFRI Farms, an organic farming, processing, and exporting business. Between them, the investors are putting €1.3 million to work in the agribusiness which began operations in 1998. AMFRI will use the capital to expand production at its own estate as well as among its network of certified smallholder farmers. It will also invest in increasing its processing capacity and sell more of its output to the wider organic food market.

MSA Capital and 88mph have led a group of investors backing a healthy seed round raised by African payments company, PawaPay. The five investors in the round are investing $9 million in the startup which will use the capital to scale up its operational presence, hire more people, and penetrate more markets on the continent.

PawaPay’s customers can access all telco mobile money systems and receive and send payments to hundreds of millions of people. The startup handles local operations, compliance, regulatory cover, and bank accounts, making it as simple as clicking a button to start receiving payments in a new market.

And finally, three items of job news. Ahmed El Oraby has been promoted to the partnership ranks of SPE Capital a year after joining the private equity fund management firm from Ezdehar Management. He'll bring his extensive private equity, strategy consulting, and financial expertise to bear on deals made by SPE Capital’s first, independent fund, AIF I, which closed in January this year with $258 million in commitments.

EBRD's new Country Director for Morocco will be Antoine Sallé de Chou, an 8-year veteran of the Bank who currently heads the Bank’s operations in neighboring Tunisia. He joined EBRD in December 2013 as Senior Counsellor for Strategy and Policy based in London before moving to Tunis in 2017 to head EBRD’s operations in Tunisia, leading a 27-member team and overseeing the scale-up of the Bank’s investment levels in the country.

And after nearly 5 years co-leading the East African Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (or EAVCA), Esther Ndeti is leaving the industry association to take up a position at Unconventional Capital, a funding platform investing in entrepreneurs and their nascent businesses on the continent.

That’s it for this week. As always, you can review these and other stories?by?clicking through?to this week’s preview edition of the newsletter.

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