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Transforming Startup Financing: The Rise of Venture Debt and Alternative Finance in MENA
The venture capital ecosystem in the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) experienced a 23% drop in funding and a 34% decline in the number of transactions closed in 2023. But as Reem Goussous at Village Capital and Dunya Bashiti at Capifly explain, alternative capital solutions are emerging to fill the gap — including venture debt, which reached $757 million in the region last year, a staggering 50-fold increase from 2020 levels. They explore how venture debt provides an important financing tool for early-stage, high-growth startups in MENA, enabling them to access funding without diluting their equity.
- Categories
- Investing
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Africa CEOForum: Afreximbank Announces a $50 Million Line of Credit for Spiro’s EVs
The loan should enable the start-up, which operates in Rwanda and Togo, among other countries, to expand its electric motorbikes and battery exchange stations.
- Categories
- Transportation
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Number of Digital Lenders Approved in Nigeria Reaches 284
The multiplicity of the apps being used by digital lenders is cited as one of the reasons the Commission is finding it difficult to curtail the incidences of harassment and defaming of borrowers by digital lenders.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Techstars-Backed BlackCopper Set Out to Disrupt Lending, Now It Owes Investors ₦1 Billion
Despite its bright start and significant press coverage, BlackCopper soon faced an existential crisis: it could not recover over 60,000 loans disbursed to customers.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- digital finance, failure, fintech, lending, startups
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UBA Gets Sh37 Billion Loan From Parent for SMEs
UBA Kenya joins the growing list of lenders directing money towards small businesses.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Under-Leveraged Best Practices for Scaling Productive Use of Energy Appliances: Part 2 — Financing Options
Productive Use of Energy (PUE) appliances are the subject of growing attention in the development sector, but manufacturers and distributors are facing a number of challenges and misconceptions that are limiting uptake of these devices. In the second article of a two-part series exploring best practices for selling PUE appliances, Thomas Charoy and Lucie Klarsfeld McGrath at Hystra discuss the affordability challenge, sharing solutions for handling the high level of working capital and financial skills required to offer financing options to end-users.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Finance, Technology
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American Express Sets its Sights on Expansion and Innovation in Nigeria and Beyond
The company plans to increase its presence in Africa, with a current operation in 30 countries and a goal to expand to 42 countries in the sub-Saharan region.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- digital payments, lending
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The Future of Digital Credit: A Recent Report Explores How to Make its Second Decade More Impactful Than its First
The first online lending platforms began emerging roughly two decades ago, and since then, the global digital credit market has grown to reach many formerly excluded customers. But according to Dan Cassara, previously at CEGA, this growth has raised concerns about over-indebtedness, exploitation and scams. As the market looks toward the coming decades, he shares a recent report that investigates digital credit — particularly Mobile Instant Credit and airtime loans — and explores approaches that can better protect consumers and support their financial health.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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