What We Do
We invest in Africa’s local prosperity
Our Investment Mandate
How we do it
We invest in the financial services and fintech sectors, as well as in certain non-banking institutions.
We believe this is important to facilitating economic growth and social progress in Sub-Saharan Africa. There is considerable research showing a strong correlation between a strong financial services sector and an increase in economic prosperity. Through our expertise, networks, and capital base, we support the growth of our investees.
Our focus is on financial institutions that service the urban and rural mass markets in Sub-Saharan Africa, that advance growth in small and medium enterprises (SME), and that operate in the agribusiness sectors.
Our Investment Criteria
- We invest in banks, fintech companies, non-bank financial institutions, and niche financial services companies in Sub-Saharan Africa.
- We are an active investor and work with our investees to improve the returns from their businesses and to drive their developmental efforts.
- We acquire significant minority stakes in our investees and require board representation.
- We will only invest where we support the investee’s current or proposed strategy and management’s plans for the implementation of it.
- We prefer to back talented, experienced, and reputable management teams.
Our Investment Approach
The long haul
We do not have fixed investment horizons. We believe that realising Africa’s long-term potential requires a model that can invest through different cycles. We aim to stimulate long-term thinking and decision-making that will lead to sustainable growth.
While we subscribe to the concepts of patient, permanent capital we also recognise that there are investment cycles and that our investments should reach a level of maturity at which point they should be sold, and the funds deployed elsewhere.
Advise
We are a minority investor. We respect our partners’ independence and the rights of the other shareholders. We provide expert advice and constructive insights to guide businesses in the right direction.
Local, independent financial institutions
We invest in locally based financial institutions that have the potential for strong growth and being able to make a meaningful contribution to increasing financial inclusivity in their markets.
Corporate governance
We believe that good corporate governance is essential to good business. We aim to contribute to effective governance in our investees through representation on their boards and the provision of advice and support, where appropriate.
Knowledge transfer
We are an active investor. We have considerable resources at our disposal, a knowledgeable, experienced team, shareholders with substantial expertise, a network of specialists we can access, and an investee bank network that facilitates the transfer of practical learnings; all of which we apply for the benefit of our investees.
Our Development Impact
We invest in Africa’s local prosperity
We apply our in-depth understanding of local markets and an enthusiastic hands-on approach to support financial service providers in Sub-Saharan Africa. We aim to make Africa a better place to work and live.
Our partners
We partner with businesses that can contribute to economic growth, job creation and poverty reduction:
- A well-functioning financial system facilitates economic growth and reduces poverty. Access to capital via financial institutions, microfinance and SME lenders is an important part of this.
- Agriculture is a sector that employs approximately half of Africa’s workforce. Agricultural growth, which requires loan funding, drives economic growth and is effective in poverty reduction in low-income countries.
We aim to invest in institutions that produce strong commercial returns while growing financial inclusivity and driving key industries, specifically agriculture.
Our value creation process:
Contribute to the investee’s business
- Stable and sustainable funding and growth
- Client, product and distribution strategies
- Management capacity building
- Compliance and standards
- Good corporate governance
- Operational stability and efficiency
- Risk management
- Environmental and social issues
Financial inclusion
- Providing financial services to SMEs
- Increasing customer reach
- Growing distribution channels
- Promoting mobile banking
- Growing agency banking
- Securing new branch locations
- Internet banking
- Diversifying product suites
- Initiating financial literacy training schemes
Rural development
- Identifying the value chains in the market
- Servicing clients in the food and agricultural value chain
- Setting up foundations for support to cooperatives
- Providing finance to SMEs and farmers
- Initiating training schemes
