By Akanimo Sampson
With a focus on supporting women entrepreneurs and disruptive companies in high-growth sectors, a member of the World Bank Group, International Finance Corporation (IFC) has announced an investment in the Savannah Fund, a leading technology seed fund in Africa, to increase lending to start-ups across sub-Saharan Africa.
IFC led the fund’s first close investing $3.00 million in the $25 million fundraising. The Women’s Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative, or We-Fi, invested $500,000. This is Savannah Fund’s second seed fund.
The fund will provide early-stage funding to start-ups in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa, with an eye on expansion to Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Uganda in East Africa, as well as Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana in West Africa.
The fund will invest in companies that support development at the bottom of the pyramid in sectors including fintech, education, logistics and e-commerce, healthcare, and agtech.
Savannah Fund’s Managing Partner, Mbwana Alliy, says “Savannah Fund II will continue its long-term mission to partner with ambitious founders building start-ups that will scale across Africa.
‘’We’re especially bullish on start-ups that have the potential to scale beyond the continent and that can expand into Silicon Valley and emerging markets like South East Asia, Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America.
“Entrepreneurs in Residence, especially female founders, are a key part of our investment strategy. We’re proud to partner with We-Fi to further expand and encourage female founders on the continent.”
IFC’s Regional Director for Southern Africa and Nigeria, Kevin Njiraini, said “early-stage funding is vital to enable more of Africa’s emerging and growing tech founders to grow their businesses and fuel the transformation of Africa’s Internet economy. By partnering with Savannah Fund, we can help more entrepreneurs to access funding.”
Africa’s digital economy could be worth $180 billion by 2025, and start-ups are a critical piece of this growth. Venture capital investments in start-ups in Africa in 2020 totaled around $1.4 billion.
IFC is however the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. It works in more than 100 countries, using its capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries.
In fiscal year 2020, IFC invested $22 billion in private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity.
