Verdant Capital hosted its 5th Video Africa virtual investor conference from March 18th to 20th. Over the three days, more than 30 one-on-one meetings were held with 17 leading relevant investors from 13 countries and 10 of its selected clients with operations in 11 countries across Africa. Credit-only institutions, innovative credit businesses, technology-driven leasing businesses, insurtechs, circular economy businesses, and a productive asset subscription business were represented, and they are currently raising debt or equity through Verdant Capital. The first Video Africa was held in 2020, in the first weeks of the disruption caused by the pandemic, but it is […]
Yabx Technologies (“Yabx”) has partnered with PayCliq to launch an AI-driven merchant cash advance service in Nigeria. Yabx is a fintech platform building an ecosystem that helps banks and financial institutions discover millions of business and individual customers at low acquisition costs. Yabx operates a B2B2C operating model, getting a Revenue Split from the Financial Service Providers through a Lending as a Service business model. Since its inception, Yabx has helped millions of businesses and individuals get discovered by banks and FIs in African markets. 125 million potential credit-worthy individuals and businesses have been unlocked using Yabx’s advanced AI algorithms. […]
A significant milestone for Watu Credit is that the financial institution obtained Client Protection Certification from MFR for its operations in Kenya and Uganda. This certification, awarded after a thorough assessment process, validates Watu’s adherence to Client Protection Principles, including fair treatment, prevention of over-indebtedness, transparency, and responsible pricing. The certification process, which began in 2021 with the Social Rating assessment, involved a comprehensive review of Watu’s policies, procedures, and practices related to client protection. MFR conducted interviews with staff and clients, awarding Watu Kenya and Watu Uganda with Bronze-level certification in February 2024. This achievement is significant, as it […]
USAID Southern Africa Mobilizing Investment (USAID Mobilizing Investment) has awarded grant capital to Verdant Capital for its new fund strategy, the Verdant Capital Southern Africa Fund (VCSAF). Verdant Capital was one of the very few fund managers selected by USAID from a very significant cohort of applicants. The grant aims to bolster VCSAF’s development, fundraising, pipeline development and improving its operational capacity. This will be achieved by supporting Verdant Capital in expanding its team, facilitating Verdant Capital to connect with potential investors, investees and partners, and support with legal closing. It will enable Verdant Capital to utilise its expertise in […]
Pyi Maung has joined Verdant Capital as a Director in the Verdant Capital Hybrid Fund. Pyi has 12 years of private equity, venture capital, and investment banking experience in Africa across various industries, including financial services, technology, consumer services, and healthcare. Prior to joining Verdant Capital, he worked as an investment manager at the Alitheia IDF Fund, a US$100 million private equity fund investing in women-owned/led/ founded/ serving SMEs across the African continent. Pyi was the lead and co-lead for investments totalling overUS$20 million in financial institutions, fintech, and consumer services companies. Pyi has also worked at Old Mutual Private […]
Verdant Capital Hybrid Fund has completed its fourth investment in just over two years since its closing, with a USD 3 million preferred equity investment in Zeepay. Zeepay specialises as a Mobile Money Challenger and is currently the biggest non-telco Mobile Money Operator in Africa by balance sheet and revenue. It has Mobile Money Licenses in six countries: Ghana, Zambia, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Gambia, and Barbados. Zeepay also terminates remittances into Mobile Money Wallets across all networks, including its own wallets available in six countries. Zeepay has a financial inclusion partnership with UNCDF. This year marks Zeepay’s ten years of existence. […]
This is the fourth successive year that Verdant Capital has been placed in the top three in East Africa. On Friday, March 15, 2024, the annual Dealmakers Africa Award Gala took place in Lagos, Nigeria. DealMakers is the pre-eminent league table agency for Africa. At the awards, it was announced that Verdant Capital was ranked joint 2nd by deal flow in 2023 in the prestigious DealMakers Africa M&A leagues tables for the East Africa region overall. This is the fourth successive year that Verdant Capital has been placed in the top three in East Africa. Verdant Capital also won joint 2nd place overall […]
Verdant Capital is pleased to announce that it has acted as financial advisor and arranger of a USD 8 million senior unsecured debt funding for US Plus Limited (“UsPlus”), a fast-growing specialist small- and medium-sized enterprise (“SME”) financing firm based in South Africa. The investor in the transaction is the United States International Development Finance Corporation (“DFC”), an agency of the United States Government and a top development finance institution (“DFI”) globally. DFC adds to the list of UsPlus’ notable global impact investors. The partnership with DFC comes due to UsPlus’ uniquely structured SME financing model, which sets it apart […]
