Sub-Saharan Africa's first Tier 2 Sustainability Notes, MultiChoice's $281.5 million increase equity stake in BetKing.

Jun 13, 2021

Another weekly round-up of news, trends, and insights for the Africa-focused business executive, finance professional, and policymaker. Subscribe to be notified of each edition.

This week

Togo-based Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (“ETI”) of the Ecobank Group, has announced that it has successfully raised US$350 million Tier 2 Sustainability Notes, which represents Sub-Saharan Africa’s first-ever Tier 2 Sustainability Notes by a financial institution.

Why is this important: Financial institutions in Africa are beginning to take a rather different approach to fund green and social projects which are aligned to achievable goals and leading to better transparency and accountability needed to ensure local and international investor confidence.

Private Equity Deals :

Adiwale Fund I managed by Adiwale Partners has announced the acquisition of a minority stake in 60-year old Maintenance Climatisation Technique (MCT), a leading company in the installation and maintenance of innovative industrial, commercial and residential air conditioning solutions operating in eleven countries in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa.
Africa’s leading agrifood tech investor AgVentures has announced an investment in Matrix Software a leading specialist software provider to the meat industry in seven African countries including Southern Africa.

Venture Capital Deals:

Egyptian electronic e-commerce platform Tejarra has raised a six-figure dollar seed funding from Openner a US-based VC firm and venture builder.
South Africa-based sustainable mobility data platform WhereIsMyTransport has raised a US$14.5 million Series A extension round to fund its expansion across emerging markets.
Ghana-based Oasis Africa VC managed by Oasis Capital has announced a $1 million investment in appsNmobile Solutions, a Ghanaian company engaged in the provision of payment solutions and software development.
Kenyan based solar energy startup Pawame has raised $1.7 million in grant capital from Netherlands Enterprise Agency, the Energy and Environment Partnership, SNV, AECF REACT Kenya, and the flagship World Bank-funded Kenya Off-Grid Solar Access Project (KOSAP) and $750,000 in equity from Launch Africa Fund to fund its geographic expansion.

M & A Activities:

Johannesburg-listed entertainment broadcaster MultiChoice Group a leading entertainment broadcaster has increased its equity stake in pan-African sports betting venture BetKing from 20% to 49% for $281.5 million. In October 2020 MultiChoice brought the 20% for $81 million.
Africa-focused investment firm SPE Capital Partners has exited its investment in H&S Invest Holding, owned by Morocco-based logistics company Dislog Group, via a sale back to the Belkhayat family.
South African-based EOH Group a company specialising in the provision of technology services to businesses and government has agreed to sell its Sybrin Group of Companies(Sybrin) for R410-million to a consortium of investors led by One Thousand & One Voices (1K1V), Crossfin, and Issac Mophatlane.
A consortium made up of pan-African investor group Harith Global Partners and aviation group Global Aviation called Takatso consortium has acquired a 51% stake in South African Airways (SAA) from the South Africa government.

Fundraising Events:

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and Banque du Caire signed an agreement formalising Afreximbank’s $200m Intra-African Investment Finance Facility to fund Banque du Caire’s expansion across Africa.
The International Monetary Fund has approved a $772.0m disbursement to Angola

Economic Updates:

Senegal’s annual inflation rate rose to 1.3 percent in May of 2021 from 0.3 percent in the previous month
Mozambique’s annual inflation rate increased to 5.49% in May of 2021 from 5.19% in April
South Africa’s current account surplus rose to ZAR 267.3 billion in the first quarter of 2021, from ZAR 197.8 billion in the previous 3-month period.

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