A new EUR20 million (US$22 million) fund has been announced by Goodwell Investments and Oxfam Novib to invest in early-stage growth enterprises in East Africa that have trouble securing financing from banks and investment funds, thus filling the “missing middle” in the region.
Pepea, a EUR20 million fund, targets small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) with a high potential for impact.
Goodwell Investments is an impact investing firm that prioritizes expansion into areas that provide access to essentials and sustainable means of subsistence for people in developing countries across Africa and India.
Regardless of gender, nationality, or skin color, Oxfam Novib supports those who work for a world where everyone has equal opportunity.
The main areas of interest for this new fund include sustainable agriculture, energy generation, logistics, and waste management.
By funding female entrepreneurs in the impact sector, Pepea provides a real chance to advance gender parity in the workforce.
The investment instruments were created with a specific focus on mezzanine finance and unique venture debt structures to better meet the needs of female entrepreneurs and stakeholders.
“Oxfam Novib played a sterling role in developing the microfinance sector as a means to provide access to financial services where they were most needed. As that sector has matured beyond the realm of NGOs, we are ready to change direction toward a less-served segment of the market. We acknowledge the challenges of SMEs in the region – especially those that are women-owned – to access fine-tuned patient capital and we now want to play a role to address that need,” said Tamara Campero, investment manager at Oxfam Novib.
“Goodwell is always looking for innovative ways to better serve the needs of SMEs, and we’re extremely pleased to have the opportunity to do so with one of the most professional, critical NGOs in the impact sector. There are so many synergies between our organizations, and I’m convinced that together, we can set higher standards in the impact investing space,” said Els Boerhof, managing partner at Goodwell Investments.
The two organizations have a long history of assisting effect-driven small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and they are now working together to capitalize on each other’s strengths in an endeavor that marks one of the few times, an NGO and an impact investing firm have worked together on an investment program for SMEs.
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