Lendable’s Post

BluePeak Private Capital (BluePeak) – an alternative asset manager firm supporting the growth of scalable #businesses in Africa through privately negotiated and structured debt like instruments– has reached final closing at USD 156 million for its inaugural private capital fund, BluePeak Private Capital Fund SCSp (the Fund). The closing signifies the emergence of private debt as an attractive asset class, offering superior risk adjusted and a compelling alternative for African SMEs. As a gateway to investing in homegrown businesses poised for #sustainable growth at scale, the Fund attracted investors and development finance institutions (DFIs) mandated to maximize social impact and generate attractive returns. Despite the persistent challenges in attracting capital to emerging #markets, BluePeak has secured backing from the African Development Bank (AfDB), British International Investment (BII) – the UK’s development finance institution, the European Investment Bank (EIB), the US Development Finance Corporation (DFC), FMO – the Dutch entrepreneurial investment bank, SwedFund – Sweden’s development finance institution, and the “Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations” CDC Tunisia. The African Development Bank and South Africa-based private #investor Sango Capital are the most recent investors to back the Fund, marking their first ever commitments to a private debt fund, and a vote of confidence in BluePeak’s strategy. Less than three years from initial closing, the Fund successfully built a diversified portfolio of 6 pioneering businesses operating in more than 30 countries across Africa, employing over 7,500 people and impacting the lives of millions of Africans. The rapid deployment of conscious #capital in several industries demonstrates the range of growth opportunities available in the region. Commenting on the closing of the Fund, Walid Cherif, BluePeak Co-Founder and Managing Partner said, “When we established BluePeak in 2019, it was to form part of a solution to fill Africa’s funding gap. Difficulty obtaining capital for ambitious businesses has long held back their financial development and positive economic and social impacts. We are honoured to have secured the backing of such a prestigious group of investors and meet the unique and evolving needs of businesses. We are excited about the next phase, partnering with ambitious entrepreneurs to boost operational excellence, drive growth, strengthen ESG practices and unlock positive impact across Africa.” BluePeak Private Capital African Development Bank Group Sango Capital Walid Cherif Rami Matar Fulton Shiundu #bluepeakprivatecapital #vc #funding

When I think about what our investors entrust us to do with their capital, I believe that if they saw the daily rigor and process that goes into the structuring of each deal that TLG funds, they would be very comfortable with how we treat their investment. Anyone can come across an interesting company, but structuring the detail is where TLG Capital continues to show an edge, evidenced by our excellent track record and continued backing by repeat and new commercial investors for over a decade. Thank you NordSIP for the article. #investing #africa #privatecredit #finance

CTSE - Our journey so far, our mission and the impact we want to make 🌍 The Cape Town Stock Exchange was originally launched as 4AX commenced operations on 1 March 2017. We relaunched to become The Cape Town Stock Exchange in October 2021 Our head office is in Cape Town, but we have a presence in Johannesburg and work with businesses all over Southern Africa. At CTSE we aim to reduce inequalities, focusing on addressing funding challenges for SMEs and reducing the missing middle funding gap. We are also the stock exchange that: ✔️ Is for small and medium size businesses ✔️Is fully licensed and regulated for debt and equity listings ✔️ Is easy and cost-effective to list on ✔️ Is cloud-based ✔️Offers unlisted debt services too ✔️ Has its own registry For more information: http://bit.ly/3wALdSv or contact [email protected]. #Africa #CapeTownStockExchange #CapitalMarkets #FinancialInclusion #Fintech #ListedDebt #ListedEquity #ReducingInequality #SDG10 #SustainableMarkets #UNSDGs

Reflecting on #AFSIC in London (9-10 October) - the energy about Africa's opportunities was palpable. #Fintech is my own 'wheelhouse' and is continuing to see continued VC investment (apparently VC funding still growing by >25%). Valuations are more realistic, and I'm pleased to see the ICO bubble has burst. Investors are interested more on good route-to-market and distribution partnerships than pure innovation. Traction metrics are early-stage KPI's, and African countries have large populations that should provide good test-beds to assess product-market fit. Some valid concerns exist about the quality of governance, which should be the focus of the senior team for all start-ups once they get post-revenue. I'm also seeing some patience from investors with the time it takes to get to viability, and the resilience needed by #founders. I presented some information about the progress made by our MinitMoney remittance service, and out mission to help people get money home quickly and affordably.

Delighted to have contributed to this year's Mo Ibrahim Foundation Forum Report: Financing Africa. As a beneficiary of VC funding for Affinity Africa, I know first hand how this asset class can drive innovation and it is important that it thrives in our part of the world. However, with venture funding comes risk and I make the argument that investments must be driven by those with an understanding of the local context. The contributors for this year's report include the President of the World Bank, Chair of the African Union, MD of the IMF, President of the African Development Bank, Deputy Secretary General of the UN and President of the European Council. Check out the full report here and my article, "Financing Innovation: Venture Capital’s Key Role in Africa”, on page 123: https://lnkd.in/dX2vPiXN #thoughtleadership #founder #venturecapital #financialinclusion #fintech #digitalbanking #smelending #startup #risk #moibrahim #governance #innovation

British Business Bank, the UK Government's economic development bank, has listed 75 more companies in whom the ‘Future Fund’ has stock, bringing its total equity holdings to 661. The Future Fund originally gave 1,190 enterprises £1.14billion in convertible loans on 20 May 2020 and accepted applications until 31 January 2021. Third-party investors had to match the Future Fund's investment. UK enterprises that grow through equity investment were backed by the Future Fund. The Future Fund helped these enterprises through economic dislocation and recovery by bridging to the next equity fundraising round. Ken Cooper, managing director of venture solutions at the British Business Bank, said: “The Future Fund was created to provide capital to companies that would otherwise have been unable to access government support schemes during the pandemic, while ensuring long-term value for the UK taxpayer. “We are pleased to see so many of those companies now raising private sector capital, which will benefit the Future Fund.” Future Fund effect assessment After a 2022 early assessment, an independent year two Future Fund assessment was published. The analysis compared the Future Fund portfolio to a counterfactual set of comparable companies to assess performance across indicators using secondary data. Share your thoughts with us!? Follow-Markelitics - Recognized Fintech International Magazine  Check us out on instagram- https://lnkd.in/dyAji3W9 Daily updates on our website- https://markelitics.com/ #investment #trading #crypto #bitcoin #dailynews #financeupdate #markeltics #markeliticsnews #markeliticsinterviews #markelitics #fintechnews #fintech #marketnews #success #emaoney #wifimoney #british 

This is the way to go, #sustainablefinance can transform the developing Nations, eradicate poverty, increase employment opportunities, also eliminate insecurity, attract investments, etc, but these can only be possible if #borrowers will be prudent in their loan utilization, while the #financialinstitutions must set clear #guidelines and #monitoring and #evaluation schemes to ensure resposible #fundmanagment for the #borrowers.

Last week, FMO - Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, Allianz Global Investors and MacArthur Foundation launched the SDG Loan Fund. Read our fact sheet on the Fund, which demonstrates how blended finance can be deployed at scale to mobilize unprecedented levels of private sector investment. Read now: https://bit.ly/3SXzfOQ #blendedfinance #SDGs #SDG8 #SDG10 #SDG13 #climateaction #economicgrowth #reducedinequality #emergingmarkets

🚀 We're proud to announce that the European Investment Fund (EIF) is a partner of the #VCCentral event! 🌱 The European Investment Fund is a specialist provider of risk finance to benefit small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) across Europe. They are part of the EIB Group. Their shareholders are the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Union, represented by the European Commission, and a wide range of public and private banks and financial institutions. EIF carries out its activities using either its own resources or those provided by the European Investment Bank, the European Commission, EU Member States, or other third parties. By developing and offering targeted financial products to its intermediaries, such as banks, guarantee and leasing companies, micro-credit providers, and private equity funds, EIF enhances SMEs' access to finance. ✨Thank you for being with us! ➡️ VC Central is an invite-only event. If you'd like to join us, let us know here: https://lnkd.in/dn8sCP5N ➡️ More information about the event: https://lnkd.in/euDTRxAT #VCC #VCCentral #VentureCapital #VC #TechInnovation #CEEStartups #CEE #Partnership #TechInvestment