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Verdant Capital supports USD 9.9 M Series A equity capital raise for Tugende, a leading technology enabled MSME lender in East Africa.

Tugende, a leading technology enabled MSME lender in East Africa, has closed an additional round of USD 3.6 million equity funding bringing the total amount raised in its Series A equity financing to USD 9.9 million. The latest round was led by Partech Africa, a member of the Partech Group and a leading global technology venture capital fund, and Enza Capital, an early-stage venture capital fund that focuses on partnering with founders and management teams that leverage technology in scaling their business while solving social issues. This round is complementary to the first round led by Mobility 54, the Africa-focused venture […]

Video Africa virtual investor conference hosted by Verdant Capital

Verdant Capital hosted its second Video Africa virtual investor conference on March 2-4. Over the three days, more than 140 one-on-one meetings were held with 45 leading relevant investors from 22 countries, and 18 of our selected clients with operations in 13 countries across Africa, ranging from fintechs to inclusive financial institutions. Represented were microfinance banks, credit-only institutions, innovative credit businesses, technology-driven leasing businesses, payment companies and insurtechs who are currently raising debt or equity through Verdant Capital. The first Video Africa was held last year in the first weeks of the disruption caused by the pandemic. Given the success of the […]

Verdant Capital was awarded Best Fintech Capital Raising Team in Africa by cfi.co in its Q1 2021 business and finance awards.

Verdant Capital won the award in a period of record deal volumes in Africa, with some USD 500 million of capital raising and M&A in the Fintech sector in 2020. Verdant Capital successfully completed transactions in the sector in 2020 with a total value of USD 40 million. The capital raises included businesses such as Tugende, a leading technology enabled MSME lender in East Africa, Retail Capital, South Africa’s Leading SME-credit tech player, and Planet42, the first mover in the South African socially-inclusive car-subscription market. The transactions were notable both for the commercial success of the businesses and their broad-based […]

Africa “Firsts” in Multi-lateral Trade and Finance

The Continent scored two firsts in the world of multi-lateral trade and finance in February. First, Nigerian-born Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was finally approved as Director General of the World Trade Organization (“WTO”) in Geneva, the first African to be named to the post (as well as the first female). Ms. Okonjo-Iweala had previously been a Vice President at the World Bank and served as Nigeria’s Finance Minister twice, from 2003-06 and 2011-15, and widely credited as bringing more transparency to Nigeria’s public finances as well as helping restructure the country’s debt position during her first term. Later in the month, Makhtar […]

New Investment Committee members to the Verdant Capital Hybrid Fund

Verdant Capital is pleased to announce that two new members have joined the Investment Committee of the Verdant Capital Hybrid Fund. Sari Nikka previously served as the CEO of Norsad Finance, the Development Finance Institution (“DFI”) for Southern Africa. Prior to working for Norsad, she held senior investment positions at Finnfund, the Finnish DFI. Ms Nikka has served on various Boards and Board Committees of companies and investment funds investing in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. She has a range of experience from project finance, senior debt instruments, mezzanine, and equity investments, as well as financing solutions for […]

Investing in African Fintech

In February, Edmund Higenbottam discussed the increasingly broad opportunities for investors in Africa’s fintech sector with African Business. The podcast coincided with the UK-Africa Fintech Summit on February 3-4, 2021. The podcast discussed key recent developments driving investor interest, including the accelerated digitization of the financial services hierarchy, dating back to the launch of M-Pesa in Kenya in 2007. Payments is a natural starting point for digitization, given the lower risk and easier adoption as a platform. Even within payments, there has been layers of advancement; for example, Capricorn Digital of Nigeria has advanced its business model from payment of […]