Pan-African fund raises $670m to help drive value addition

The Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), an investment arm of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) with headquarters in Kigali, says it has raised $670 million to drive different interventions aimed at developing trade on the continent. The financing, according to the fund, will go towards promoting industrialisation, value added export development and intra-African trade. According to FEDA, $270 million of the $670 million raised will be allocated to the FEDA Direct Equity Fund I, to provide equity and quasi-equity financing to companies aligned with the organisation’s goals. Another $250 million will go to the Strategic Initiatives Fund, an Afreximbank-owned fund created to implement ground-breaking and highly-impactful greenfield investments in industries crucial to the expansion of intra-African trade and value-added export development throughout the African Continent. “We are very pleased with this first close which is a first step in financing the equity gap in the trade sector in Africa,” said Prof. Benedict Oramah, President and Chairman of Afreximbank. “FEDA fund strategies will also facilitate and increase foreign direct investment in the trade and export sectors by attracting leading institutions’ keen interest in Africa’s development,” he added. The third tactic is the establishment of a private credit fund, ‘Africa Credit Opportunities Fund, L.P. (“ACOF”), which has US$125 million in committed funding and is co-sponsored by FEDA and Gateway Partners Group. To boost trade facilitation and economic progress in Africa, ACOF will invest in loan instruments. The fourth strategy of FEDA is the creation of a US$25 million Venture Fund to finance high-impact early-stage companies throughout Africa using stock, quasi-equity, and venture loans. FEDA also announced that it has been chosen to manage the Adjustment Fund for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). “By the first quarter of 2023, this fund—a partnership between the AfCFTA Secretariat and Afreximbank—should be up and running. The African Continental Free Trade Agreement Fund will fund the public and commercial sectors to aid in the implementation of the agreement,” a statement from Afreximbank reads in part. Much as it is still low in value than imports, African exports surged to 40 percent to $572.59 billion in 2021. FEDA was created in 2019, but operations began last year after choosing Kigali to host its permanent home. The move, among others, displayed the ambition to close a gap that prevents exporting companies from raising their prospects. Latest data indicate that there is an equity financing gap of around $110 billion in Africa in areas that promote intra-African trade. Since it became operational, FEDA says it has made investments in different firms including Liquid, a firm that has been building the first fibre optic network across Africa.

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Pan-African fund raises $670m to help drive value addition