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TLcom Closes Africa’s Largest Early-Stage VC Fund at $154 Million
Confirming TLcom Capital’s status as Africa’s largest Seed and Series A investor, the new fund accelerates the firm’s mission to partner with elite founders to tackle Africa’s biggest and most complex challenges.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- venture capital
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Nigeria Secures $1 Billion to Boost Indigenous Medicine Production
The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced the acquisition of over $1 billion in funding to support the local production of indigenous medicines in the country.
- Categories
- Health Care, Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Analysis: What ESG Investors Need to Know about ‘Systems-Level Investing’
ESG can measure risks to cash flows, but ‘systems-level investing’ offers a more complete view of where corporations might be vulnerable over the long term.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Global
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AECF Launches €12.5 Million Sudan SME Catalyser Amidst Conflict
The Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF) has launched a new initiative aimed at bolstering Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Sudan in the wake of conflict that has curtailed economic activities.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- employment, MSMEs, supply chains
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Goodwell Invests in OmniRetail, Fuelling Better Opportunities for Informal Retailers
The firm is proud to be the first to commit, underscoring its desire to support the growth of companies driving financial inclusion in underserved communities.
- Categories
- Investing
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Private Business Alone Can’t Bring Energy to the Last Mile: Why Philanthropy Should Shift its Focus to Scalable Non-Profit Models
Africa is home to countless failed pay-as-you-go energy businesses that couldn't sustain themselves after their grant funding dried up. According to Aneri Pradhan at New Energy Nexus, this highlights the shortcomings of market-led approaches to last-mile energy access across the continent. She argues that philanthropic funding has largely failed to create sustainable energy businesses in these communities, as customers cannot afford clean energy at their current income levels. Instead, she encourages funders to support non-profit models that have proven their ability to reach these communities at scale.
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Mobilizing Capital in the Low-Cost Private School Sector: Key Insights Two Years into an Innovative Partnership
One in five children in sub-Saharan Africa are out of school, and without scalable solutions, the region — like other emerging markets — won’t meet SDG 4’s goal of education for all. Mauricio Rincon and Mathieu Fourn at Opportunity International, and Alvaro Ma at Oikocredit argue that affordable non-state schools can help address this need — but only if they're supported by financial institutions and impact investment. They share learnings from a partnership between Opportunity and Oikocredit that is directing millions of dollars in capital to these schools, along with capacity building and other support.
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Impact Manager Acre Raises $100 Million for African Climate Infrastructure
Typically, export credit agencies guarantee up to 85% of loans and require the rest to be raised privately, yet banks' willingness to fund the remainder has declined as such projects carry a higher capital charge and can be hard to reinsure.
- Categories
- Environment, Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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