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3 days ago | 
impactalpha.com | Lucy Ngige
Royal America sells and leases electricity-powered equipment for logistics and cargo in Chile, Ecuador and Colombia. The company issued a $26 million, seven-year bond with support from Swiss impact investor responsAbility and Latin America-focused development bank IDB Invest. The bond is structured in two tranches; the first, up to $16 million in Chilean Pesos, is allocated to Royal America Chile and anchored by IDB Invest.
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1 week ago | 
impactalpha.com | Lucy Ngige
Artificial intelligence is poised to transform industries and jobs, disrupting old ways of doing things and creating new opportunities. In the Asia-Pacific region, which is rapidly adopting the technology, that brings challenges for the region’s 2 billion, and growing, workers. AI is expected to contribute up to $3 trillion to GDP by 2030, driven by productivity gains in the retail, marketing, finance, manufacturing and automotive sectors, some of which are dominated by APAC countries.
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1 week ago | 
impactalpha.com | Lucy Ngige
The Singapore-based impact investment marketplace links investors such as family offices, corporations and foundations with early-stage businesses and blended finance projects advancing UN Sustainable Development Goals. The platform landed $1.25 million Singapore dollars ($925,000) in catalytic capital, including $250,000 Singapore dollars from the Richardson Family disbursed over two years.
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1 week ago | 
impactalpha.com | Lucy Ngige
Portugal’s Goparity is an online platform that enables individuals to invest in sustainability-focused projects across renewable energy, sustainable land use and biodiversity protection, financial inclusion, water efficiency and other sectors. Portuguese asset manager 3XP Global led Goparity’s €2.9 million ($3.1 million) round via its Impact Innovation Fund.
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1 week ago | 
impactalpha.com | Lucy Ngige
The 86-year-old, employee-owned investment manager in New York launched its impact-focused private equity fund strategy in 2021, raising $280 million to invest in funds and companies delivering essential products and services. With its slightly larger second fund, the firm is continuing that strategy, noting that such basic businesses perform well during market turmoil.
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1 week ago | 
impactalpha.com | Lucy Ngige
Kofa has built a battery-swapping network across Ghana that provides portable electricity for homes, business and electric motorcycles. The Ghana-based startup raised $3.25 million in equity, in a round co-led by early-stage clean energy investor E3 Capital and Injaro Investment Advisors to expand across Ghana and Kenya. Kofa secured $4.3 million in debt and $590,000 in grants from the Shell Foundation and the UK Government’s Transforming Energy Access, or TEA, platform.
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2 weeks ago | 
impactalpha.com | Lucy Ngige
Off-grid energy systems and products have connected over 560 million people to clean and more reliable sources of power. One of the key drivers of that access is credit, which about 40% of off-grid solar adopters rely on to finance their products. So-called pay-as-you-go financing has been a game changer in addressing energy poverty since many products are too expensive for low-income consumers to purchase outright.
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2 weeks ago | 
impactalpha.com | Lucy Ngige
NMB Bank launched the country’s first green bond with $60 million from the International Finance Corp., British International Investment and New York-based life insurance company MetLife. IFC anchored the deal with a commitment of up to $50 million in local currency last year through its IDA Private Sector Window for Local Currency Financing facility. According to BII, the green bond also marks a first for international investors supporting a locally issued bond in a private deal.
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2 weeks ago | 
impactalpha.com | Lucy Ngige
Informal shops over 70% of food, beverages and personal care products in Africa. These small retailers grapple with fragmented supply chains and lack of access to affordable credit. Lagos-based OmniRetail’s digital infrastructure ensures efficient supply of over 900 consumer goods from manufacturers to these informal retailers.
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2 weeks ago | 
impactalpha.com | Lucy Ngige
DPI has for nearly two decades offered growth equity to African businesses focused on financial inclusion, healthcare services and supply chain efficiency. The London and Cairo-based investment firm is finding appetite from commercial investors to invest down-market, in earlier-stage and tech-focused businesses. The firm has acquired Egypt-based fintech fund manager Nclude to anchor its new venture capital group, DPI Venture Capital.
