Author: Fred Kennedy

British International Investment (BII), the United Kingdom’s development finance institution, has agreed to provide a $37 million investment for the Abydos II Solar PV and Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project in Egypt, reinforcing the country’s transition to renewable energy.

SORA Technology, a Japanese startup that applies drone and artificial intelligence technologies to public health challenges, has secured an additional $2.5 million in the second close of its late seed funding round.

Climate Fund Managers (CFM) has given the green light to a $86.2 million mezzanine debt commitment from its Climate Investor Two (CI2) facility to support the early phases of the Olifants Management Model Programme (OMMP) in South Africa’s Limpopo Province.

South Africa’s Business Partners Limited (BPL) has unveiled a new financing initiative: the Basadi-Women Growth Fund, a R90 million (around US$4 million) facility aimed squarely at supporting women-led small and medium enterprises.

Sahel Capital’s social-impact investment arm, Social Enterprise Fund for Agriculture in Africa (SEFAA), has extended an additional financing facility of US$800,000 to MM LEKKER, the Benin-based agribusiness.

Pan-African early-stage venture capital fund Five35 Ventures has received a major anchor investment from the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund, whose resources are managed by MEDA (Mennonite Economic Development Associates).

Kenyan e-mobility firm BasiGo has secured a new investment from Proparco, the private-sector arm of France’s development finance institution, accelerating the company’s mission to expand electric bus services across Africa.

SwiftVEE, described as Africa’s largest online livestock trading platform, has successfully closed a Series A funding round. However, deployment of the new capital depends on finalizing key opportunities in its pipeline.

Egyptian health-tech company Rology has confirmed that it has closed a growth funding round, with backing from global healthcare-investment leaders such as Philips Foundation, Johnson & Johnson Impact Ventures, Sanofi Global Health Unit’s Impact Fund and MIT Solve Innovation Future.