The financing will help the company grow its distribution across the country. Starz-kin plans to open up retail stores in Kisangani in the North-East of the country, a region of Congo that is remote and lacks a reliable supply of retail products.

“Our investment in Starz-kin will help solve the scarcity of affordable household and personal hygiene products in remote areas of Congo,” said Marcel Posthuma, managing partner at XSML.”The expansion into Kisangani is the next step in its expansion plans and we are looking at other smaller cities in the interior for the years hereafter.”

Based in Kinshasa, Starz-kin distributes household and personal hygiene products through  retail stores across the DRC. The company has four stores in the capital Kinshasa, and two other outlets in the remote cities of Tshikapa and Kikwit.

The transaction is the fund manager’s 12th deal from its $19million Central Africa SME Fund (CASF). The vehicle has an 80% allocation to the DRC and 20% to the Central African Republic (CAR). The fund invests between $100,000 and $500,000 per deal.

Investors in this latest tranche include Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO) and France’s Proparco. The financing is part of a $50million debt and equity capital raising plan to finance the company’s growth.

ECP first backed Oragroup in 2008, through a minority stake and a year later wholly acquired the company. BIO and Proparco have  also previously invested in Oragroup, backing a $20million investment round in 2011. The duo respectively invested $7million and $13 million in the deal.

“Oragroup is a cornerstone investment. This latest round of successful fundraising demonstrates that Oragroup’s investors are backing its long-term development ” said  William Nkontchou, director of the ECP.  “We look forward to moving our relationship forward into its next phase of growth.”

Based in Togo’s capital city of Lomé, Oragroup provides banking services across six countries including Benin, Togo, Guinea, Chad, Gabon, Mauritania. The group as of May 2013 had a balance sheet of $1.4billion (€1.1billion).

The deal marks Vantage’s first investment in West Africa, and its second transaction outside South Africa. Vantage’s financing will primarily go into the completion of the Chirano power plant, which is set to provide energy to Kinross Gold Corporation.

“We reviewed over 80 investment opportunities in the region, and we consider Genser to be in the top decile of the deals we have seen,” said Luc Albinski managing partner at Vantage.

Part of the capital will also boost Genser’s plans to commercialise a natural gas project. The company has been working on a strategy to capture, process and liquefy natural gas, from an oil rig located about 12 miles off Ghana’s coast. The gas, currently being flared into the atmosphere, will go into the production of electricity, heat and steam. Yaw Keteku, investment professional at Vantage, also worked on the deal.

Based in Accra, Genser Ghana primarily services industrial and mining clients in the country. The company’s target is to produce almost 50 megawatts of electricity by 2013 year-end, and to triple capacity over the next few years.  Genser Ghana operates under the umbrella of Genser Energy USA, an independent power producer based in the US,  with operations in Ghana Sierra Leone and Liberia.

The company will use the new capital to implement expansion plans. RJ Trading plans to invest in new equipment for the bakery, and also build out its information technology (IT) services.

“RJ Trading fills an important gap in providing quality bakery products as well as information communication technology hardware and services,” said Marcel Posthuma, managing partner at XSML. “We are able to provide longer term finance and can take a higher risk on enterprises that we believe are able to take a next step in their growth.”

RJ Trading makes and distributes branded ice cream, bakery and patisserie products.  Headquartered in Kinshasa, the company also operates a supermarket and an IT equipment and services business, through its subsidiary Congo Tech.

RJ Trading is XSML’s eleventh investment in Africa and its eighth in DRC. XSML has structured the deal through its $25million Central Africa SME Fund (CASF).  The vehicle has an 80% allocation to DRC and 20% to the Central African Republic (CAR).

The fund invests between $100,000 and $500,000 per deal.  CASF’s backers include the international Finance Corporation (IFC), FMO and Lundin Foundation.

The investor has taken a minority stake in the company, and will also have a seat on the board. The deal was sourced directly, through an existing relationship with the management team.

Amethis was impressed by the company’s track record, with the company registering a compound annual balance sheet growth of about 50% over a five-year period. The company also has a strong profit record.

Phatisa has structured the deal through its $300 million African Agriculture Fund. The deal marks the investor’s first transaction in a water bottling and distribution business. Phatisa is headed by chairman Valentine Chitalu [pictured].

Phatisa’s funding will bolster CBC’s plan to strengthen its brand presence locally and  grow its distribution network. Phatisa acquired the stake from CBC’s founding owner, Teylium, a diversified holding company. Teylium also owns business in the real estate, hospitality, finance, telecommunications and agricultural sectors across West and Central Africa. Teylium’s holdings are estimated at least $130 million (€100 million).

The investor backed CBC on the back of the rising demand for clean drinking water across Africa, driven by population growth and urbanisation. Up to 250 million people across Africa are impacted by the lack of safe drinking water, according to United Nations research.

Founded in 2004, CBC is a water bottling and distribution company that markets its product under the brand name Olgane. CBC is headquartered in Abidjan.

The companies will initially get $10 million each, as a hybrid of equity and quasi-equity financing, while an additional $4 million will be made available at a later stage to capitalise further growth plans.  Elton will also be receiving an extra $10 million for its Gambia operations. AFIG is investing through their Atlantic Coast Regional Fund.

Elton and Senbus are owned by Impaxis Capital, through Societe d’Interventions Financieres (SIFI), an investment holding company it acquired in 2012. Impaxis Capital is a principal investment and financial advisory firm based in Senegal.

“We are excited to have the opportunity to collaborate with Impaxis Capital, and provide the necessary resources and capabilities to the related entities to drive strong financial and operating performance going forward,” said Papa Madiaw Ndiaye, chief executive officer at AFIG. “The Elton affiliates and Senbus enjoy wide customer support and brand recognition, and we look forward to assisting them in their ambitious expansion plans.”

AFIG’s financing will support Elton’s plan to grow retail distribution of its petroleum products across West Africa. The capital will also bolster the company’s commercial offering to the marine, industrial and aviation sectors.

Founded in 2000, Elton has two separate companies in Ghana and Senegal. The companies market and distribute petroleum products through a combined retail network of over 30 petroleum service stations. Elton employs over 500 people.

Senbus on the other hand assembles buses for the public transportation industry. The company works in partnership with Asia-based manufacturers, such as Tata. Senbus will use the capital from AFIG to deliver on planned automotive assembly projects.

The company’s founding investor, Kinnevik, an emerging markets financier, also participated in the deal. The investors believe the company forms part of the second wave of mobile financial services in emerging markets, with the first wave being mobile payments and banking.