Pillar: FSD Africa Investments

AfricInvest and Africa50 provide $20 Million in financing to Africa Healthcare Network (AHN) for a continent-wide expansion.

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Nairobi, Kenya, November 22, 2023 – Africa Healthcare Network (AHN), a leading provider of dialysis services in Africa, has secured $20 million in equity and debt funding, from Africa50 and AfricInvest, two leading African institutions, and Tokyo-based Ohara Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

The funding will enable AHN to accelerate its growth and address significant gaps in the availability of high quality, affordable renal care across Africa.

Africa50, which led the equity funding, invests in high-impact, high-growth businesses and projects across the continent. AfricInvest, which provided debt financing through its Transform Health Fund (THF), is a leading pan-African investment platform, dedicated to supporting businesses that drive economic growth and social development. THF is an innovative blended-finance fund that invests in locally-led health supply chain, care delivery, and digital solutions in Africa. Under the leadership of AfricInvest, along with the Health Finance Coalition, a group of leading global health funders hosted by Malaria No More, the fund finances enterprises that improve health system resilience and pandemic preparedness across the continent.

The investment will enable AHN to:

  • Expand Access to Care: AHN has 45 clinics today and plans to continue growing rapidly, entering underserved regions to expand access to life-saving treatment.
  • Enhance Technology and Disease Prevention: The funding will also accelerate AHN’s technological capabilities, including early identification and management of kidney disease.
  • Strengthen its Healthcare Workforce: AHN will further invest in training and development programs for its 500+ employees, continuing to elevate the standard of care.
  • Maximize Development Impact and Sustainability: Adhering to the highest ethical and ESG standards, AHN aspires to be a role model in healthcare and a force for good in its local communities.

Matt Williams, CEO of AHN, expressed his excitement, stating, “With the support of Africa50 and AfricInvest, we are well-positioned to make a dramatic impact in the fight against kidney disease and improve the overall healthcare landscape in Africa.”

Raza Hasnani, Managing Director and Head of Infrastructure Investments at Africa50, remarked, “We are excited to be partnering with AHN to further their mission of improving access to quality kidney care across Africa. The AHN team has already achieved significant milestones, and we look forward to being part of the journey to impact more lives. This partnership is aligned with Africa50’s strategic focus on healthcare, a sector which can deliver both positive impact and attractive investment returns.”

Faisal Jiwa, Co-Lead of AfricInvest’s Transform Health Fund, added, “We are proud to be partnering with the entire team at AHN in its mission to improve access to quality, affordable healthcare services in Africa, which is fully aligned with THF’s impact-first strategic focus along the healthcare value chain. We believe AHN is uniquely positioned to build the healthcare ecosystem across the continent, led by a strong culture of impact and operational excellence.”

Nikhil Pereira-Kamath, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of AHN, reiterated the power of the partnership, “We’ve seen tremendous growth in recent years, growing from 17 centers at the end of 2021 to nearly 50 centers and over 500 team members by year end 2023. With an acute focus on high quality patient care, we look forward to Africa50 and AfricInvest supporting our rapid expansion across the continent with the ambitious goal of achieving 100+ centers by 2025, and further growth beyond.”

The collaboration between AHN, Africa50, and AfricInvest underscores the importance of high-impact partnerships in addressing pressing healthcare challenges in Africa. As part of the transaction, AHN received support on completion deliverables related to the transaction from CrossBoundary, an advisory group focused on unlocking private capital in underserved markets.

About Africa Healthcare Network (AHN):AHN is a leading dialysis services provider in Africa, dedicated to improving access to quality healthcare for patients with kidney disease. AHN operates a network of dialysis centers across the continent, offering world-class treatment, state-of-the-art facilities, and a compassionate approach to patient care. For more information, visit: www.africahealthcarenetwork.com

About Africa50:Africa50 is an infrastructure investment platform that contributes to Africa’s growth by developing and investing in bankable projects, catalyzing public sector capital, and mobilizing private sector funding, with differentiated financial returns and impact. Africa50 currently has 33 shareholders, comprised of 30 African countries (including the governments of Tanzania, Kenya, and Rwanda – all countries of operation for AHN), the African Development Bank, the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), and Bank Al-Maghrib. For more information, visit: www.africa50.com About AfricInvest:AfricInvest is a leading pan-African investment platform active in multiple alternative asset classes including private equity, venture capital, private credit, and listed equities. Over the past quarter century, we have raised more than $2bn to finance almost 200 companies at various development stages, delivering value and impact for our investors, portfolio companies, and the communities we serve. Our 100-strong team of investment experts in more than ten offices across three continents has a proven track record of providing attractive risk-adjusted returns while spurring productivity growth, creating jobs, and ultimately improving African lives through inclusive and sustainable development. For more information, visit: www.africinvest.com About Ohara Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.:Ohara Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd is a pharmaceutical company with major business of orphan drug discovery and generic drug development and manufacturing. In particular, Ohara focuses on the orphan drugs in the field of childhood cancer and high quality accident-preventive generic drugs. Under the current rapidly changing environment where medical treatments and techniques are dramatically improving, we are pursuing providing total healthcare solutions with prevention, diagnosis and aftercare to enhance the quality of patient’s life. We are promoting to develop total healthcare programs in Asia and Africa in alliance with global innovators. For more information visit: www.ohara-ch.co.jp/english/  For media inquiries, please contact: Africa Healthcare Network: Saksham Bhandari, Chief of Staff, Tel: +254 700 420 113, saksham.bhandari@africahealthcarenetwork.com

Africa50: Nana Boakye-Yiadom, Senior Communications Coordinator, Tel: +212 666166308, n.boakyeyiadom@africa50.com

AfricInvest: Ann Wyman, Senior Partner, Tel: +216 71 189 800, ann.wyman@africinvest.com and Jordan Filko, Investment Manager, Tel: +254 725 705 773, jordan.filko@africinvest.com

FSDAi Nyala Facility extends USD 1 million to WIC Capital to boost gender lens investing and increase financing to Small and Growing Businesses

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Senegal, 5th December 2023 – FSDAi Nyala Facility BV has extended a USD 1 million loan to WIC Capital, a local capital provider investing in Senegal and Côte D’Ivoire that focuses on financing women-owned and managed Small and Growing Businesses (SGBs).

WIC Capital is led by Ms. Evelyne Dioh Simpa, a Fund Manager with a wealth of finance experience and supported by a robust team and board. WIC Capital has a strong alignment with FSDAi Nyala Facility due to its unwavering commitment to promoting access to finance for female owned SGBs needed to expand their businesses.

For example, in Senegal, a mere 3.5% of women entrepreneurs access credit from financial institutions. WIC Capital focuses exclusively on investing in businesses owned and/ or led by women, demonstrating that the financing gap for female-owned enterprises in West Africa can be addressed. Furthermore, WIC Capital stands out for its innovative product structures tailored to local SGBs. Notably, its origins in an exclusive women’s angel network, adds to its uniqueness within the FSDAi Nyala Facility portfolio, making it an invaluable learning opportunity for all investors in the small and growing businesses investing ecosystem.

Women entrepreneurs in Africa not only encounter challenges when it comes to access to finance but also grapple with the scarcity of platforms offering the essential knowledge and assistance required for the expansion of their businesses.

WIC Capital works with early-stage, women-owned/ led enterprises to provide first-time external capital as well as business training and mentorship. Also, WIC Capital leverages a large network of successful women entrepreneurs and civic leaders to co-fund and support these emerging businesses. The business training and mentorship is provided by the WIC Académie through a technical assistance program. Alongside the women’s angel network, other funders of WIC Capital include foundations, multilateral donor agencies, and development financial institutions.

“Through its investment in WIC, FSDAi is backing an African women-led capital allocator with deep local angel networks, a creative funding structure and financing solution for small and growing businesses in West Africa. With our investment, WIC can position itself to attract bigger pools of capital to expand its strategy in Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire,” noted Anne-Marie Chidzero, Chief Investment Officer at FSD Africa Investments.

“I am proud that the UK is investing US$1 million in WIC Capital through Financial Sector Deepening Africa Investments. I have seen first-hand WIC Capital’s inspiring work and know that they are a deeply impact-focused organisation. They support young female entrepreneurs in a market where access to funding is a huge barrier for their growth. At the heart of building sustainable and inclusive businesses lies the need to advance gender equality through women’s economic empowerment. I look forward to continuing our collaboration to create jobs and empower Senegal’s talented women,” noted Juliette John, UK Ambassador to Senegal.

“FSDAi is playing a critical role in the development of an emerging asset class of small business growth funds Africa, particularly women-led funds. The funding of WIC Capital represents an important confirmation of WIC’s innovative approach to financing early-stage women businesses in West Africa.  By melding their business development services, women investment club mentoring with investment capital, WIC provides a comprehensive approach to the challenges that to date have constrained Africa’s women-led businesses to growth and thrive.  We believe this commitment will be the foundation upon which other DFIs and local institutional capital holders can also provide funding to WIC Capital and other innovative local capital managers seeking to invest in Africa’s women businesses,” noted Drew von Glahn, Executive Director of the Collaborative for Frontier Finance.

“WIC Capital’s mission aligns with FSDAi’s desire to address the disfunctions of African capital markets, which include the structural barriers that small businesses face in accessing financing, specifically when they are women led. This partnership will be catalytic in the development of a local capital provider that has the potential to profoundly change the local ecosystem, by providing risk capital and business support to women led small and growing businesses (SGBs), with the ultimate goal of increasing women’s agency and economic benefit. With this investment, we are closing our first fund, and we believe this partnership will help accelerate the mobilization of our second fund to serve SMEs generating a strong impact in Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire,” concluded Evelyne Dioh, Managing Director of WIC Capital.

African Development Bank approves $10 million investment in Dhamana Guarantee Company Limited, East Africa

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ABIDJAN, Côte d’ivoire, 21 November 2023 -/African Media Agency(AMA)/-The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group has approved a $10 million equity investment in Dhamana Guarantee Company Limited to support the use of capital markets as an alternative source of long-term funding for infrastructure and the real sector in East Africa.

Dhamana will be domiciled in Kenya as a limited liability company with a regional mandate to provide credit guarantees on debt capital market instruments. The Bank Group’s financing will enable Dhamana to issue guarantees for debt instruments. These local currency bonds are intended to boost the credit rating of the instruments to crowd in investment from pension funds, insurance companies and sovereign wealth funds to finance infrastructure and the real sector in East Africa.

The Bank, together with InfraCo Africa (part of the Private Infrastructure Development Group), Financial Sector Deepening Africa, and local institutional investors and other partners, will be supporting the operationalization of Dhamana.

Dhamana  will support access to financing for key sectors including transport, water, renewable energy, and waste management, among others. Dhamana is committed to catalyze financing to assist the scale-up of green and sustainable financing into East Africa. Its credit guarantee activities should provide investors with the necessary comfort to support the allocation and intermediation of pools of private institutional investors’ funding into infrastructure.”

Nnenna Nwabufo, African Development Bank Director General for the East Africa region, said, “The African Development Bank is pleased to continue to support the operationalization of innovative solutions such as those provided by Dhamana to unlock and channel long-term local currency funding towards the real sector.

PIDG’s CEO, Philippe Valahu, said, “African Development Bank joining PIDG marks a significant milestone for the Dhamana Guarantee Company. This additional equity will allow Dhamana to further mobilise significant untapped pools of domestic institutional capital into East Africa’s real economy, such as new green infrastructure, and providers of credit to individuals and businesses. We are committed to catalysing the development of domestic capital markets in Africa, as we seek to unlock investment for bankable, climate-resilient projects to be delivered with the scale and urgency required to meet the challenges of climate change and welcome the support of African Development Bank in Africa to help achieve this goal.

Ahmed Attout, African Development Bank Acting Director for Financial Sector Development, said: “The Bank’s support for Dhamana shows the catalytic role and potential of guarantee companies in leveraging opportunities for real sector and infrastructure financing in local currency and local corporate debt capital markets deepening in the East Africa region. The investment in Dhamana follows the Bank’s priority to mobilize institutional financing for infrastructure investment in East Africa.”

The Bank’s partnership with Dhamana advances several strategic objectives including to help stimulate local currency debt market financing across diverse infrastructure sectors and enhancing economic diversification and competitiveness in the region. The intervention also aligns with the Bank’s priorities to promote regional integration including through improved infrastructure development, promotion of inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and fostering innovation.

The investment aligns with African Development Bank strategic efforts, in collaboration with development partners, including PIDG, to operationalize credit enhancement companies in selected Regional Member Countries.

Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) on behalf of African Development Bank.

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Pioneering Fund to help realise Africa’s green infrastructure aspirations

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By Ralph Gilcrist, FSDAi Advisor and Amos Gachuiri, FSDAi Senior Manager, Investments

Africa has a huge social and green infrastructure deficit. To close this gap, funding shortfalls must be addressed.

FSD Africa Investments (FSDAi), the investment arm of FSD Africa which receives funding from UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) , has committed to help establish a pioneering export credit finance fund, Acre Export Finance Fund, specifically for the development of green and social infrastructure in Africa. Acre Impact Capital is a newly established fund manager raising a US$300 million fund to invest in climate-aligned essential infrastructure in Africa alongside various export credit agencies (“ECAs”). In doing so, it aims to prove the case for a new investment asset class on the continent – ECA-backed debt securities as an appropriate high-impact mechanism to deliver financing for the much-needed infrastructure services (e.g. access to water, clean energy, safe and green transportation, etc.). This new asset class will give impetus to Africa’s green aspirations by diversifying financing sources towards Africa’s infrastructure financing demands.

In the world’s more developed economies and increasingly in developing economies, ECAs provide financial support to exporters from their home countries, usually in the form of financial guarantees. These allow sovereign borrowers to raise long-term loans at favourable rates from banking institutions. But ECAs only guarantee a portion of the total funding requirement (typically 85%), leaving an uncovered funding shortfall required to complete the deal. This is the funding gap that Acre aims to fill. In doing so, Acre will be able to take advantage of the sovereign guarantees offered to the main ECA-backed funding tranche, which have historically low rates of default.

Acre has been involved in recent ECA transactions in Africa on an advisory basis, highlighting the kind of deals that it may eventually invest in and in anticipation of the fund’s first closing later this year. One such transaction involved €225m of loans provided to the Ministry of Finance in of a West African country to build three regional hospitals. 85% of the total funding was guaranteed by a European ECA and provided by a European bank to purchase services from an experienced healthcare contractor with long experience of building and running three public hospitals which will add significant capacity to the country’s health infrastructure and provide free health services at the point of use. An African ECA provided guarantees for 85% of the balance, which was funded by local African banks and institutional investors, leaving only €5m as the residual, uncovered portion. This loan was warehoused for Acre by an asset manager and Acre has an option to acquire this portion when the Fund closes later this year.

The Eurobond markets have all but dried up for many emerging market issuers as USD and EUR interest rates have risen which in turn has occasioned a flight to safety. The availability of an ECA-backed funding package means that a creditworthy sovereign borrower (e.g. Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Angola) can still fund the purchase of basic infrastructure, underlining a key advantage of ECA financing as counter-cyclical source of financing when capital markets are challenged. In addition, in the example above, the involvement of a locally based ECA and financiers also ensures a substantial level of local procurement and the terms of the funding (15 years for the ECA-backed portion in Euros with solid security) means that this type of funding instrument should appeal to long-term institutional investors, both international and local.

Acre Impact Capital’s Export Finance Fund is anticipated to have substantial developmental impact whilst generating attractive risk adjusted returns to investors. It will enable many worthwhile green and social infrastructure projects to proceed with the availability of financing and go a long way towards demonstrating the attractiveness of ECA-backed debt securities to institutional investors, thereby potentially crowding in private sector investment. FSDAi has invested £10m into the fund thereby encouraging the participation of other strategic and financial investors to reach an anticipated first close of $100m. With enough demonstration effect, Acre’s strategy should spur further interest in ECAs as an attractive source of financing and attract local institutional capital in such future structures and increase the share of infrastructure projects on the continent that tap into ECAs for funding.

FSD Africa Investments (FSDAi) commits US$3 million to Carbon Value Exchange Ltd (Cavex), a pioneering digital platform linking buyers to small-scale carbon projects across Africa

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The latest investment represents a consolidation of FSD Africa’s early stage support to the project and makes FSDAi an early investor in an innovative digital market and payments platform set to revolutionise the voluntary carbon market.

30th October 2023, Nairobi – FSD Africa Investments (FSDAi) has invested US$3 million in Carbon Value Exchange (Cavex), a digital market and payments platform set to revolutionise the voluntary carbon market by allowing small producers of carbon credits such as farmers and small businesses to sell direct to corporate buyers. The platform aims to channel over US$500 million in carbon financing to small-scale green projects by 2030.

The Cavex platform uses cutting-edge technology to remotely capture real time data on the projects’ activities and calculate how much carbon is being displaced or removed as a result. This means buyers will have full transparency around the credits they are buying and can have confidence that the information they are being given is accurate.

The technology minimises the time and cost required for projects to validate and transact their carbon credits which until now has meant only larger renewable projects such as wind or solar farms, or businesses could afford to join schemes that allow them to trade carbon credits with buyers. Crucially, proceeds from the sale of carbon credits on Cavex will flow directly to the companies, people and communities running the projects using digital finance (e.g. mobile wallets), thereby increasing end to end transparency. By aiming to return 90% of transaction proceeds to project participants through digital finance, Cavex will play a pivotal role in amplifying small-scale, high-quality carbon projects and expanding market access for carbon offset projects across sub-Saharan Africa and eventually the Global South.

FSDAi’s investment is part of a seed funding raise of US$6 million by Cavex which will fund the next stage of its development to commercial viability. This includes early-stage convertible grant support from FSD Africa’s Digital Innovation team (amongst other co-grantors) for the platform’s core development by 4R Digital Ltd, the team which has incubated Cavex from concept to the current stage of investment. FSDAi’s investment in Cavex complements its existing portfolio that enables capital allocation to Africa’s green economic growth by backing existing asset managers and venture builders (examples include Africa Climate Ventures, Nithio, Persistent Energy, InfraCredit, Spark Energy and Catalyst Fund).

FSDAi makes investments in support of innovative financial instruments, facilities and intermediaries that can accelerate the role of finance in Africa’s green economic growth. It is funded by UK International Development and works alongside FSD Africa, bringing different financing tools to play to incubate (FSD Africa) and pave the way for FSDAi early investment.

One of FSDAi’s distinctive features is its mandate to take significant investment risk. FSDAi fills an important funding gap by assuming the commercial risk of novel financial solutions that neither development finance institutions nor private investors are prepared to take.

Anne-Marie Chidzero, CIO, FSD Africa Investments, said: “Cavex is a marketplace platform that can radically expand the reach and impact of the voluntary carbon market across Africa through its use of digital technology and mobile money. This technology will allow rural and urban, micro to large businesses to sell their credits to large off-takers in the global North through the aggregation features of the exchange. This means that small and rural producers can participate and benefit from Africa’s great potential to be an exporter of carbon credits.’’

Nick Hughes, CEO and Co-Founder, Cavex, said: “This investment will help us prove how digital technology can open-up climate finance for many people, communities and projects that are displacing or removing carbon. Cavex has the potential to scale in the way mobile money scaled 15 years ago when Kenya and M-PESA spearheaded a global wave of digital finance. More widely, Africa has a huge role to play in the evolution of carbon markets and in this context, it is critical that we find ways to distribute climate finance more equitably and in a way that has real socio-economic impact.”

About Cavex

Cavex is a digital market and payments platform that connects buyers of carbon offsets to small-scale high-impact projects in the Global South. Cavex enables access to carbon financing for a wide range of small-scale projects with the objective of channelling over $500m to projects by 2030. The innovative approach drives efficiencies by utilising digital technologies and data capture to reduce the time and costs for projects to validate and transact their carbon credits. Cavex also utilises mobile money and innovative digital financial services to ensure that the majority of sales proceeds are channelled directly to projects and project participants.

Mark Napier: Africa’s leaders seize the climate initiative

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As international headlines chart the terrible suffering caused by flooding, earthquakes and wildfires, a less headline-grabbing, but nonetheless hugely significant, good news story has emerged from Nairobi, Kenya. The African Climate Summit, which concluded on September 6, was a huge success story for Africa and for Kenyan President William Ruto.

Pledges directed to African climate change adaptation and litigation amounting to $26bn have emerged from the summit. That’s not enough to solve Africa’s climate challenges, but even if only a fraction of this sum materialises, it will have a real impact on the ground.

Even more consequential in the long term is the consensus that emerged from the conference around the need for economic growth that delivers both prosperity and environmental benefits. The fact that a consensus was achieved is significant, because it strengthens Africa’s position for the forthcoming COP28 conference in Dubai in November. Furthermore, the admission of the African Union to the G20 means the African voice is getting louder and clearer on the world stage.

Importantly, the summit’s adoption of the Nairobi Declaration, which commits African countries to develop and implement “policies, regulations and incentives aimed at attracting local, regional and global investment in green growth and inclusive economies”, is also a signal that Africa will look for other strategies to support climate action, alongside the $100bn a year promised by developed nations in 2009.

Indeed, the summit was most of all an assertion of African self-determination and specifically the need to mobilise Africa’s domestic private capital in the continent’s climate efforts. Relying on international finance creates a dependency that Africa does not want. Put simply, Africa has determined that its own resources must be channelled, supported by a financial market architecture which ensures that states can absorb climate finance effectively, distributing it where it is most needed.

But if it is to do this, the current situation – in which less than 0.5% of domestic institutional assets under management are invested in alternative assets – cannot continue. As was argued powerfully at the launch of the Pan-African Fund Managers’ Association at the beginning of the summit, we need to think about how we can put in place not only the policy and regulatory incentives but also the instruments and the financial architecture to drive much more of the$1.4tn of institutional capital in Africa towards climate and nature-positive projects.

Crucially, this will mean more use of de-risking strategies such as credit guarantees to persuade pension funds to de-emphasise the easy but less safe option of government securities and to invest in green assets. It will also require sources of donor and philanthropic capital to step up their support for project development, for example through the use of challenge funds or by investing in intermediaries that are closer to the market as a way of reaching the more innovative start-ups and entrepreneurs who will drive the new green economy.

[Current] global prudential regulations can make it economically impossible for large institutional investors to allocate capital to African projects.

Moreover, the summit underlined an important issue that has seen Africa’s financing needs neglected, namely the need for reform of the global prudential regulations, which can make it economically impossible for large institutional investors to allocate capital to African projects. There should be a global review of these constraints, perhaps led by the G20.

Even with such reforms, African governments, many of which are battling with high levels of debt, will need to be both agile and visionary if they are to compete at a time when the world’s biggest economies are offering big incentives to attract green investment. Though deeply political, carbon taxes could be one way to go, but would need to be sensitively introduced. Other green fiscal incentives, balancing out tax breaks for green investment by removing subsidies for dirty industries, are also essential for governments to be able to direct their economies towards a greener future.

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change has just released its first global stocktake report, highlighting yet again that, despite a major global effort, progress since the Paris Agreement has been inadequate. The report recommends greater commitment to transformation across all sectors and recognises the need for more access to climate finance for developing countries in line with the key recommendations from the Nairobi Summit.

If we get this right, the prize is very significant and the message from the summit is that Africa will not wait. Instead, it is determined to grab the opportunities of a new green growth pathway now, as are an increasing number of investors, and that has to be good for us all.

Project accelerator launches to drive investments in African biodiversity

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A group of five companies and organisations has launched an accelerator to attract investment in high-quality biodiversity projects across Africa, with a first call for proposals open until late next month.

Biodiversity Investments – Researcher & Accelerator (BIRA) will be hosted by the African Leadership University School of Wildlife Conservation and co-funded by global entrepreneur firm Dalberg and FSD Africa Investments, with contributions from biodiversity specialist firms CreditNature and Xilva.

The initiative will work to develop ecosystem measurement frameworks suited to the African reality, including user-friendly investor metrics, as well as offer grants to organisations that provide comprehensive assessments and monitoring systems to understand the environmental impact of pipeline companies, according to Dalberg’s website.

“Further, BIRA will engage investors through the grant which will be used to co-develop financing propositions and facilitate investment memoranda and marketing to promote credits,” it said.

“Through such a structured approach, the funding can prepare project developers to be investor ready whilst developing a pipeline of biodiversity deals in Africa and attract investors to the sector.”

In a comment on LinkedIn, CreditNature CEO and founder Cain Blythe said BIRA has been designed to “develop a credible approach to accelerating biodiversity and ecosystem measurements as a core offering for investable nature-based solution projects in Africa”.

One of CreditNature’s contributions to BIRA will be to apply its Natural Asset Recovery Investment Analytics (NARIA) framework.

“We’re offering African projects a high integrity, science-based, and scalable approach to measuring ecosystem integrity,” said Blythe.

“For projects in Africa, this means setting robust ecosystem baselines and forecasting unique recovery and rewilding strategies, all while preparing for potential investors.”

BIRA will be accepting applications for its first round of grants until Oct. 20, without specifying the amount available.

“Applicants must have biodiversity projects in Africa, have completed a business plan or feasibility study, and look to attract investors/buyers,” Dalberg said.

“BIRA will support select projects in conducting assessments of their biodiversity impact and investor readiness, and it will help showcase investor-ready projects to potential funders.”

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FSD Africa @ AFSIC 2023

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This year FSD Africa joins AFSIC 2023 in celebrating their 10-year anniversary with a decade of impact in strengthening and greening financial markets in Africa. At AFSIC 2023, FSD Africa will host an afternoon of high-profile dialogue including sessions entitled Leveraging Carbon Markets for Africa’s Green Transition, Africa’s Green Future, Harnessing the Power of Finance for Nature and Novel Financing Structures to Unlock Africa’s Climate Agenda.

FSD Africa, one of AFSIC 2023’s top sponsors, is focused on making finance work for Africa’s future. From its base in Nairobi, Kenya, its 35 financial sector experts work alongside partners to design and deliver programmes in more than 30 countries across Africa with the aim of driving large-scale change in financial markets and accelerating the role of finance in Africa’s green economic growth. Panel content at AFSIC 2023 will feature excellent invited speakers who are leaders in their field, and they will take advantage of discussing the below hot topics ahead of the November 2023 COP28.

Leveraging Carbon Markets for Africa’s Green Transition

According to some estimates, carbon offsets in the form of tradable carbon credits could generate billions of dollars for African countries by 2030 offering a major source of funding for the continent’s green economy. The recent auction in Nairobi, Kenya, of 2.2m carbon credits organised by a Saudi company was an indication of the huge demand and the opportunity that the voluntary carbon market presents for Africa and for investors interested in supporting Africa’s green transition. But there are many challenges that need to be overcome including concerns over regulation, market integrity, pricing, and transaction costs.

In this fireside chat, leading entrepreneur James Mwangi, co-founder of Dalberg Advisors, founder of the Climate Action Platform for Africa and CEO of Africa Climate Ventures, a venture-builder focusing on carbon mitigation, capture and removal, discusses the opportunities for companies and investors and the challenges facing the market.

Africa’s Green Future: Unlocking Capital for Climate-Positive Growth

Africa has the potential to achieve both climate targets and economic prosperity through a climate- positive growth path. However, this requires substantial investment and creative solutions across the finance sector. From small climate-tech start-ups to large sustainable infrastructure projects, mobilising capital is crucial to realising this ambition.

In this session delivered in a TED talk style, experts from capital markets in Africa and globally will discuss how innovative approaches in finance can transform green growth and resilience on the continent. By unlocking capital and fostering collaboration, Africa can pave the way for a sustainable and prosperous future.

Harnessing the Power of Finance for Nature

This session will present current investable nature-positive opportunities for institutions. High-level speakers from both financial institutions and development organisations will discuss the role of governance and frameworks such as the TNFD (Taskforce on Nature Related Financial Disclosures) as a catalyst for investment in nature. The session will also elicit debate and discussion on the role of finance in enabling nature conservation from the perspectives of the real economy for instance by presenting examples of where financing for nature has worked in Africa.

Novel Financing Structures to Unlock Africa’s Climate Agenda

Africa faces significant challenges in financing its climate agenda with traditional funding models often insufficient for implementing ambitious climate projects across the continent. To overcome this, novel financing structures are emerging as solutions to unlock the necessary resources. These new financing approaches go beyond traditional grants and loans to encompass mechanisms such as climate bonds, green bonds, carbon exchanges and alternative investment vehicles along with instruments that reduce private investment risk including guarantees, insurance, and blended capital, as well as public-private partnerships.

This panel discussion brings together experts to discuss innovative financing approaches, identifying key success factors and the challenges and how they can be overcome. The session will also highlight the importance of collaboration and partnerships between various stakeholders in mobilising resources and driving climate action in Africa.

FSD Africa Investments (FSDAi): Building Africa’s financial markets

FSD Africa Investments (FSDAi) was set up in 2017 as the investment arm of FSD Africa, to deploy innovative, catalytic capital. Significant additional funding was provided in 2019. Since its
inception, FSDAi’s strategy has been to contribute to the development of the financial markets in Africa by playing a patient and catalytic role, using three investment approaches: test, accelerate
and mobilise finance as illustrated below:

FSD Africa Investments (FSDAi): Building Africa’s financial markets

FSDAi provides capital to meet the needs of the investee through a range of financial instruments, including equity, loans and guarantees. It leverages other teams at FSD Africa, who compliment the investments with market building technical assistance. We look for financial returns on investments that support the development of market-based solutions. Our key mandate is to accept higher risk and earlier stage than others, on projects with a high potential for development impact through testing new models, accelerating promising models in the market, and mobilising co-investment.

FSDAi’s work is complementary to the work of the rest of FSD Africa, and in our first phase (2017-2023) we have seen that this combination of financial tools from FSDAi and non-financial tools from FSD Africa yield impactful interventions.

For more information, download the report