The African Development Bank (AfDB) on Friday said that its Board had approved $15 million for equity investment in Verod Capital Growth Fund III, a private equity fund for investments in high growth middle market companies.
The continent’s development finance institution stated on its website that the amount was approved by its Board of Directors for companies in Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Gambia.
It stated further that the fund’s investments would be in companies in consumer driven sectors, including light industrials, fast moving consumer goods, education, financial services and agro processing, adding that ticket size for each investment will be between $5 million and $20 million.
The AfDB Director, Industrial and Trade Development, Abdu Mukhtar, explained: “The Fund will help accelerate investments in small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in the West African region.
“This is key to job and wealth creation, knowledge transfer and scaling up of local businesses.
The Fund will provide an important vehicle to growing SMEs in Africa, which are a key pillar to the continent’s industrialization drive”, Mukhtar added.
Verod Capital Partners, is an indigenous private equity firm with extensive knowledge of the Anglophone West Africa market. Since 2008, the Fund has invested in 16 SME companies in the region.
The Fund targets direct and measurable impact on individual businesses in West Africa while improving their ability to expand thereby providing benefits in terms of government revenue and job creation to the countries’ domestic economies.
