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How Africa Internet Group Became Africa’s First Venture Capital-Backed Business to Be Valued at $1 Billion
Africa Internet Group (AIG), parent company to e-commerce brands like Jumia and Jovago, has become Africa’s first venture capital-backed business to be valued at $1 billion dollars after an $83 million investment from insurance company AXA for an 8% stake.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- venture capital
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‘The Face of the African Entrepreneur’
The third annual Sankalp Africa Summit takes place Feb. 24-26 in Nairobi and is centered on the theme “Spurring the Entrepreneurship Economy.” In previewing the summit, Sheena Raikundalia of Intellecap interviewed Vava Angwenyi, founder of Vava Coffee. The Kenyan enterprise is creating sustainable livelihoods for over 30,000 smallholder coffee farmers as well as employing HIV-positive women and ex-offenders in the informal settlements surrounding the capital.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Investing
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African Equity Crowdfunding Portal Launches Call for Applications
Impact-focused equity crowdfunding portal Malaik has launched a call for applications to African entrepreneurs with impact focused businesses, aiming to help connect businesses with investors.
- Categories
- Investing, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Announcing Our New Partnership with ImpactSpace
We have long been on the lookout for a media partner that's creating deep and useful market data for the companies we cover on NextBillion. That's why today we're thrilled to announce a media partnership with our friends at ImpactSpace, a new open data platform created to fill the information gap in impact investing.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
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NexThought Monday: Impact Investing ‘Skeptics Have Been Defeated’ – Our Q&A With LeapFrog CEO
LeapFrog Investments' portfolio of companies make insurance and financial services their business, and their clientele are those who earn $10 or less a day. With a recent investment from development organization OPIC, LeapFrog has raised more than $1 billion. In an interview with NextBillion, CEO Andrew Kuper details LeapFrog's trajectory, the shakiness of emerging markets, and the challenges of reaching consumers for whom insurance can provide both a safety net and an economic springboard.
- Categories
- Health Care, Impact Assessment, Investing
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Investing in Detroit’s Comeback: Optimism & Challenges on the Road to Inclusive Growth
Detroit’s comeback story is replacing the apocalyptic headlines of recent memory. Thanks to new investment, thousands of new streetlights are on and blight is being tackled at a faster pace than ever before. But fundamental questions remain: Will redevelopment in Detroit lead to equitable growth? Will the city's lower-income and working-class residents who have lived there for decades continue to be a significant part of Detroit’s rich culture, history and vibrancy? These are questions that are being asked in urban areas across the country, says Bradford Frost, director of the Detroit Initiative.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- impact investing
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Bill Gates Doubles Down to Scale Up Financing for New Impact Fund Managers
When Bill Gates agreed a couple years ago to put a small piece of his personal fortune into a fund that invests in companies serving low-income customers in India, he invited the fund managers to return with a plan to scale up their investments and their social impact. The fund managers recently took such a plan to Gates, and have again come away with not only a check, but an endorsement from the world’s richest man. Gates also co-chairs the world’s biggest philanthropy, but his new personal investment in the Capria Accelerator Fund is about business, not charity.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- impact investing
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Uganda Preparing Law to Regulate Microfinance Institutions
Government is in advanced stages of establishing a law that will pave way for the formation of an autonomous institution that will license, regulate and supervise non-Microfinance Deposit Taking Institutions (MDIs), an official has disclosed.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- microfinance, regulations
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