The African Agriculture Fund (AAF), managed by Phatisa, has raised $30 million at the first close of its small and medium enterprises (SME) sub-vehicle.
Ghana-based Databank Agrifund Manager has been appointed to manage the SME vehicle, which is targeting $100 million at final close. The AAF SME fund is anchored by a number of development finance institutions (see below), who are also backing the main $300 million AAF fund. The fund manager is part of Ghana’s Databank Group.
“The AAF SME Fund has been established to stimulate the scaling-up and commercial growth of African SMEs in the food and agriculture space. We are very excited about our future relationship with Phatisa,” said KenOfori-Atta, Databank’s chairman. “We have successfully assembled a world class team for the fund and are confident that we will create considerable value for our investors.”
The fund can invest up to $4 million in each company, and will look to back companies that have less than $ 15million in assets, and less than 300 employees. Investments will be complemented by a technical assistance facility primarily funded by the European Union, managed by International Fund for Agricultural Development and implemented by Technoserve.
The facility will support the SME fund’s portfolio companies with strategic, operational and technical expertise. Up to $0.5million of assistance will be available to each business.
The the Databank fund management team is led by senior managing partner Dennis Matangira, managing partner Brian Frimpong, and Michael Addo, chief operations officer.
AAF backers
- Agence Française de Développement (AFD)
- Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID)
- Promotion et Participation pour la Coopération économique (Proparco)
- International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
- African Development Bank (AfDB)
- ECOWAS Bank of Investment and Development (EBID)
- European Commission (EC)
- Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)
