Welcome to the inaugural edition of the Africa Impact Review newsletter🚀!

Hello, 

Welcome to the inaugural edition of the Africa Impact Review newsletter. Our aim is to provide comprehensive coverage of Africa's impact economies, focusing on its key components: the people, institutions, policies, organisation, and the community. Africa boasts a significant impact sector, poised to play a pivotal role in the continent's development. We believe this warrants a dedicated platform to foster awareness, empower the sector with vital knowledge, facilitate connections, and scale effective solutions and models. Indeed, we are witnessing the decline of the aid industry. While I have long anticipated this shift, I had envisioned it being driven by Africa's progress and inherent dignity, rendering aid less necessary. This is a defining moment for our people, and the unfolding events will shape the future of the sector.

This platform will concentrate on financing, knowledge, and community – the evolving impact ecosystem – adopting a highly community-centric approach through the lens of African perspectives and systems change. Implementing organizations and the individuals at the grassroots level, the ultimate beneficiaries of funds, programs, and projects, will have a central voice. We will also present a holistic view of the sector from a systems change perspective.

Having observed the evolution of impact investing in Africa over the past several years up close, I've had the privilege of engaging in numerous diverse conversations on the sector, particularly concerning financing. For over four years, I contributed to building a leading impact network on the continent. Embracing the multifaceted nature of startups, I gained valuable insights, especially in thought leadership, community building, learning, and capacity building. I managed Africa's foremost Impact Investing program from its inception, attending all sessions that empowered over 200 investors to integrate impact into their strategies. My interactions with thousands of impact actors, notably investors and enablers, exposed me to a wide array of tools, projects, programs, ideas, and explorations. I am convinced that Africans are forging a new Africa, unconstrained by limitations of thought, imagination, or resources, even if this is not yet fully apparent. This vibrant spirit resonates across social enterprises, NGOs, private businesses, and other actors, reminiscent of my experience with the emergence of the tech and startup sector with iHub a decade ago. This dynamism also extends to civic, political, and cultural spheres across the continent, and we are all invited to contribute to this platform.

This inaugural edition offers an encompassing overview of the sector from late last year to the present.

I look forward to learning from and with you all, and contributing my modest efforts to progress through this platform and other avenues.

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Contact: [email protected]

FINANCING & INVESTING

▶Aruwa Capital Management, a Nigerian female founded and led early stage growth equity and gender lens fund manager,  announced the second close of Aruwa Capital Fund II with $35m of the  $40 million target secured. Aruwa has now upsized the target for Fund II from $40 million to $50 million with a hard cap of US$60 million within 2025. Aruwa Capital retains its investment strategy of backing high-growth, impact-driven businesses that are transforming key industries in Nigeria and Ghana. Fund II surpasses the total fund size of  Fund I which closed in 2022 at just over $20 million. Fund I investors the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund (MFAGF) and the Visa Foundation re-upping their investment with Nigerian DFI Bank of Industry Limited (BOI), British International Investment (BII), EDFI Management Company, and the Electrification Financing Initiative (ElectriFI) joining them.

(Read the Founder’s reflections upon the announcement of Fund II. 

Aruwa was named Impact Investor of the Year at the 6th Annual Convening on Impact Investing hosted by the Impact Investors Foundation (IIF), the Nigerian National Advisory Board for Impact Investing, and the NAB produced a video that provides deeper insight into the investor and some of its portfolio companies - watch it here.)

▶African and Africa-focused gender-lens funds may run into capital raising headwinds in the short term as US institutional investors start to stay away from Gender-lens investing in order to align with US Presidential executive orders ending government DEI programmes and restricting the use of the word “gender” in federal policies. US institutional investors are significant investors across Africa and a shift in policy and strategy has significant effect in Africa. 

▶EG Capital, a private debt impact fund, announced the rolling First Close of its EG-EEF fund, with over US$10M in signed commitments and soft commitments exceeding US$35M as of Q1 2025.  The  first close will remain open until December 2025, with milestones to reach US$30M–$60M AUM. EG Capital is leveraging a blended finance structure that offers enhanced protection for investors, that includes 1st Loss Junior Equity and a 2nd Loss Guarantee, with a focus on 100% ODA and 80% LDCs countries. EG-EEF’s target final size is US$100M, with a hard cap of US$120M. The investor aims to mobilize 30% private sector capital, including commitments from African institutional investors. The fund focuses on private debt investments in high-growth SMEs within the Food, Health, and Education Technology sectors in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, Namibia, and Botswana. The investor is also establishing a local currency facility. Read the Managing Director’s reflections upon the fund close announcement. 

▶Silverbacks Holdings, an alternative investment firm that targets 3x to 5x average returns mainly investing in export oriented tech enabled businesses and broader tech companies, successfully exited Lemfi, a remittance and payments company founded in 2021, with 29x return on investment, the investor’s eighth profitable exit. Lemfi announced $53 million in Series B funding in January.  

▶TLG Capital, a private investment firm which invests in SMEs across sub-Saharan Africa, announced  the first close of a new private credit fund, TLG Africa Growth Impact Fund II (AGIF II) with $75 million raised, anchored by IFC’s Distressed Asset Recovery Program (DARP) with a commitment of up to $20 million. Other backers include Swedfund, Norfund, Bpifrance, and FCDO, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office through its Manufacturing Africa programme. The fund will partner with African banks to reach up to 20 SMEs that face stress with their existing loan options, across manufacturing, healthcare, agriculture, and telecoms.

▶Delta Philanthropies, Mohamed bin Zayed Foundation for Humanity, Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), The ELMA Philanthropies, Gates Foundation, Horace W. Smith Foundation, The Patchwork Collective, among others, have launched the Beginnings Fund, a $500 million philanthropic initiative aimed at preventing more than 300,000 avoidable deaths and expanding quality care for 34 million mothers and newborn babies by 2030 in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Lesotho, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe through low-cost interventions and personnel (staffing?) in high-burden hospitals. The partners also pledged a separate $100 million in direct investments in maternal and child health. The fund aimed to work alongside African governments, experts and organizations and will be led from Nairobi, Kenya. Watch CNN interview featuring the CEO of the Fund, Alice Kang’ethe and partners. 

▶The Mastercard Foundation announced a five year $300 million strategic partnership with UNHCR that will support 0.5+ million refugees and displaced youth across Africa to complete their education and 200,000 young people to transition into dignified work by 2030.

▶Maasai Technologies launched Maasai, an M&A marketplace designed to help African startups plan and execute strategic exits by connecting them with potential buyers and streamline the acquisition process. 

▶Feature: Haskè Ventures - The venture capitalists who are all in on Francophone Africa

▶Africa’s Sports & Creative Early Stage Investor Network launched earlier in the year, powered by ABAN and backed by TRACE, El Carnaval Limited, and PUNUKA.

▶African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), through its development impact investment arm, the Fund for Export-Development in Africa (FEDA), has committed to spearhead the launch of the $1 billion Africa Film Fund as part of its Creative Africa Nexus Programme (CANEX).

▶Africa loses $5 billion annually doing intra-African trade using foreign currencies, notably the US dollar, the euro, the British pound, and Chinese yuan. This reliance arises from historical economic links, post-colonial banking institutions, and global trade patterns that favor Western currencies as primary mediums of exchange. The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), a platform that cuts out the foreign currencies by enabling real-time cross-border payments in local African currencies is yet to pick up steam two years post launch. 

▶The African fintech landscape remains one of the most dynamic and promising markets in the world. Despite a 51% contraction in fintech funding in 2024, the industry is witnessing a surge in mergers and acquisitions aimed at creating larger, more profitable entities, signaling a new era of stability and growth.

▶Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) announced its strongest financial performance in its 17 years of existence, with total revenue for the year ended 31 December 2024 surpassing US$ 1 billion for the first time in the Corporation’s history. AFC posted a 22.8% increase in total revenue to US$1.1 billion and a 22.3% rise in total comprehensive income to US$400 million, up from US$327 million in 2023. The earnings growth was driven by improved asset yields, prudent cost-of-funds management and sustained traction in advisory mandates. AFC is Africa’s leading infrastructure finance solutions provider. 

▶IFC disclosed a proposed commitment of up to US$20 million in Summit Private Equity Fund II and a co-investment envelope of US$5 million.  Earlier in the year, Summit Africa, a specialist impact investment manager and licensed financial services provider, announced the launch of Summit’s Private Equity Fund II (SPEF II) with a US$20 million anchor investment by British International Investment (BII). SPEF II will invest in small-to-mid market companies in financial services and ICT sectors to drive financial, digital inclusion, and target food security across Southern Africa. SPEF II intends to raise an additional USD 22 M to USD 27 M from local and international institutional investors, with a target fund size of USD 140 M before beginning deploying capital.  SPEF II builds on the success of SPEF I which has provided USD 37 M in funding to over 6,200 SMEs  since 2019. 

▶According to the African Private Capital Association, a majority of private equity investors see South Africa and Kenya as their top investment destinations over the next three years with energy, healthcare, and consumer goods being key priority sectors for GPs in Africa, reflecting a strategic shift in focus driven by both global trends and local market dynamics.

▶The Confederation of Sahel States has announced the Confederated Bank for Investment and Development. The new financial institution will launch with an initial capital of 500 billion CFA francs (approximately $820 million), aimed at funding key infrastructure and development projects across Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.

(QUASI)POLICY

▶On the 29th May, Africa elects the new president of the African Development Bank during the organisation’s Annual Meetings. Earlier in the year, the bank cleared five candidates to run for the position - Senegal's Amadou Hott, who served as Senegal's Minister of Economy, Planning and Cooperation (2019-2022), Dr. Samuel Munzele Maimbo from Zambia, who is currently the Vice President for Budget, Performance Review, and Strategic Planning at the World Bank and Mauritania's Sidi Ould Tah, a former President of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa. The bank has made all the candidates CVs available, and you can listen to each candidate's proposed strategy here. 

▶The US Government, a core financier, announced its intention to deny future funding to UNFPA.

MEDIA EFFECT

Perception is not reality

Risk in Africa is a wrongly priced externality: Storytelling/narrative has a direct correlation with value association.  A forthcoming research shows how narrative shapes the value associated with Africa, and how reframing a representative Africa narrative will boost opportunities. The perception of Africa as overly risky is a wrongly priced externality. New statistics from the Global Emerging Markets Risk Database Consortium on around 15,000 loans to private companies in developing economies over 30 years, reveal that the risk of investing in emerging market businesses is lower than commonly perceived. Investment flows to Africa tend to be correlated with sentiment and media coverage, not just data. A study released late last year showed Africa loses up to $4.2 billion annually due to unrepresentative negative media narratives, and improved media sentiment could reduce borrowing interest rates by up to 1%, translating to potential savings of $4.2 billion annually across the continent. Investors, philanthropists, donors, and the business community have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to shift the perception, as outlined by Moky Makura. 

▶Rewatch - BBC News: HARDtalk with AfDB President Adesina, June 2024.

▶Explore: Who Controls Africa’s Media Lanscape?

EVENTS

Featured: The Africa Impact Summit

The Africa Impact Summit 2025, the leading forum that is driving networking, deal making, and impact investing thought leadership in Africa, is taking place in Accra, Ghana, on June 11-12, 2025. The summit will provide a platform to make connections, discover opportunities and share insights to drive a new form of responsible investment principle that works for Africa. The summit includes a 2025 Study Tour to Nigeria, a unique opportunity to explore Nigeria’s market opportunities, connect stakeholders, and foster collaborations.

▶ Registration Open for the second annual Africa Week by Norsken. The event brings together the continent’s leading stakeholders in technology and entrepreneurship to spotlight the investors and category-defining technology companies shaping the future of Africa.

▶Early Bird Registration is now open for the second annual AVPA Conference. The convening provides a dynamic platform to explore innovative solutions, share best practices, and foster powerful partnerships that drive sustainable development across Africa.

RESOURCES

▶The Innovative Finance Initiative, a bold, five-year effort to scale what works and unlock what’s next in the world of innovative finance has launched.  IFI is a field-building project supporting the people, tools and ideas pushing the boundaries of how capital flows towards impact.

▶Impact Economies Traction & Trends: Insights from 34 GSG National Partners: The new GSG Impact report highlights the 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐞𝐬 and 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬-𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 in 34 GSG National Partner countries. It offers a deep dive into impact economies, including: Analysis of government actions; Role of market-building groups; Impact capital intermediation, supply and demand; Contributions to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The report aims to serve as an ecosystem learning tool and to build confidence in local actors and initiatives.

▶Financing for the Future: Exploring New Frontiers in Outcomes-Based Financing.  The report presents an extensive analysis of several groundbreaking outcomes-based financing models, prominently featuring Yunus’s pioneering Social Success Note - a collaboration between Yunus Social Business, The Rockefeller Foundation, UBS Optimus Foundation, and Impact Water Uganda. Key factors identified include limiting structural complexity, ensuring proactive stakeholder alignment, strategically onboarding partners, and maintaining strong leadership continuity. The report is essential reading for: Social enterprises seeking alternative pathways. Investors and funders exploring innovative instruments. Policy makers aiming to scale social impact through structured financing. Philanthropic organizations interested in catalytic roles to unlock greater impact.

▶Systems Thinking for Impact Investing: Primer, Playbook, and What’s Next. The resources offer practical tools to help investors and their advisors apply systems thinking across their impact investing strategy, investment processes, and impact measurement and management. Additional context to the resources - connect with the author, Karim Harji on LinkedIn while at it. 

▶"Success Stories in the Creative Industries in Africa and other Emerging Markets,"  report analyzes the journey of 12 African creative businesses in six countries, compared to 10 examples from other emerging markets such as India and Vietnam.

WORTHY READS

Favorite Reads on Investing, Governance and Development

▶ How to reform Africa’s top development bank.

▶ Why it’s time for African led-growth.

▶ Africa’s public sector needs strong corporate governance.

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