Africa Deal Roundup: 10 notable African private equity and VC investments in January

Africa’s private equity and venture capital fund managers have been off to a flying start in 2019, with several transactions announced during January. Here are a handful of the notable deals that came across our desk.

PRIVATE EQUITY
CDG Capital Private Equity, the private equity firm focused on growth investments in Morocco, announced the acquisition of a stake in Trarem Afrique SA (Trarem), a manufacturer and distributor of office furniture. CDG made the investment through its Capmezzanine II SCR fund. “With the expected launch of new business office spaces in Casablanca Finance City, a strong management team and our hands-on support to the company, we see the right conditions for value creation for Trarem,” commented Brahim Guessous, Partner at CDG Capital.

AfricInvest and Catalyst Principal Partners have acquired a significant minority stake in Kenya-based Prime Bank. The investment was made through AfricInvest Azure, a special purpose vehicle formed by AfricInvest and Catalyst Fund II. Prime Bank offers an array of corporate and SME banking services. The bank also has a regional presence through its affiliates in Malawi, Botswana, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe as well as operating in the insurance sector through its subsidiary, Tausi Assurance.

African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM) through its AIIF3 fund, invested $31 million for a minority stake in next generation utility platform BBOXX’s operations in Rwanda, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The investment will accelerate the roll-out of BBOXX’s solar systems which combine solar panels and batteries with pioneering technology, available on a pay-as-you-go basis via mobile money.

EXEO Capital announced that its Agri-Vie Fund II – a private equity fund focused on food and agribusiness investments in sub-Saharan Africa – concluded the subscription to 36.5% of South African fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) manufacturer Jumbo Brands. Founded in 1985, Jumbo Brands has a strong focus on the manufacturing of fruit juice concentrates, squash, cordials, coffees, hot chocolate, and lemon juice. “The continued long-term growth potential of the sector, its defensive character, sound exit potential and scope to scale businesses to a regional level all bode well for a good investment opportunity,” says Avril Stassen, a Senior Partner at EXEO Capital.

Advanced Finance and Investment Group (AFIG Funds), an African private equity fund manager, completed an investment in Nigerian insurance group NEM Insurance Plc, by way of its AFIG Fund II. It acquired 29.9% of shares from some existing shareholders, making it the largest equity holder in NEM.

Vectis, a private equity firm long active in Nigeria, concluded a restructuring investment transaction of $12 million into Leventis Foods Ltd, a Nigerian FMCG manufacturing company with brands of bread and snacks. Upon regulatory approval, Vectis will control a majority stake in the company. According to Vectis, rising disposable incomes and the growing popularity of quality branded snacks will be the key growth drivers, especially among the 115 million Nigerians under the age of 25.

EARLY-STAGE / VENTURE CAPITAL
South Africa-based WhereIsMyTransport – a data collection, data access and journey planning service – received an investment of $1.85 million from Liil Ventures and Goodwell Investments as part of its series-A funding round.

GreenTec Capital, an investor in African startups and SMEs, backed Kenya-based data analytics firm SuperFluid Labs. The investee is a SaaS provider of data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, and has developed a platform that assesses credit scores and provides business intelligence more effectively through Big Data and AI.

Andela, a company building distributed engineering teams with Africa’s top software developers, announced the completion of a $100 million series-D funding round, led by Generation Investment Management with participation from existing investors including Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, GV, Spark Capital, and CRE Venture Capital. The most recent financing brings Andela’s total venture funding to $180 million.

South African venture capital firm Kalon Venture Partners invested R10 million ($734,000) in local proptech platform Flow, an app that rewards tenants for good behaviour. With Flow, tenants in South Africa get rewarded for registering, adding their property details, paying their rent on time, looking after their homes, and much more.