Vital Capital Announces Vital Impact Relief Facility

Vital Capital

Vital Capital, an impact investor focused on companies in sub-Saharan Africa, announced a new debt facility providing loans to promising businesses to help them get through the coronavirus pandemic while continuing to offer essential services.

The Vital Impact Relief Facility offers businesses immediate access to capital in anticipation of a severe economic crisis that could result from the rapid spread of coronavirus in the region.

These loans, which seek risk-adjusted returns, will help fundamentally sound African businesses providing impactful services to weather the economic consequences of the virus and put them in a position to thrive when the pandemic has ended.

The facility will start with an initial $10m in capital and will issue roughly 10 loans on favorable terms of approximately $1 million each with a duration of up to four years.

Vital also plans to open the facility to other investors to extend the available pool of capital. The vehicle will primarily target companies involved in agro-industry & processing, healthcare, sustainable infrastructure and education, and is initially launching in Kenya and Uganda. It will then expand into Vital’s target geographies including Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Angola and Senegal.

To co-lead these efforts and oversee this new vehicle, Vital Capital has hired Guido Boysen, who recently stepped down as CEO of Grofin, an Africa SME lender, and has vast experience in creating and managing targeted debt facilities in Africa.

Founded in 2011 and led by Nimrod Gerber, Managing Partner, Vital Capital is an impact investment, private equity fund that is focused on sub-Saharan Africa. The firm is focused on the fastest growing sectors in sub-Saharan African markets with a primary emphasis on agro-industry & processing, healthcare, sustainable infrastructure and education. It manages the $350 million Vital Capital Fund as well as the new debt facility.

FinSMEs

03/04/2020

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