Investors tap into Africa’s $3trn climate finance opportunity

Investors tap into Africa’s $3trn climate finance opportunity

Highlights

• Africa is eying increased climate investment inflows as foreign and local banks, private equity firms and startups begin to roll out green finance initiatives to accelerate the clean energy transition.
• Standard Bank and UK-headquartered Standard Charted are some of the lenders that have made the biggest commitments so far in local green finance mobilization on the continent.
• The African Development Bank (AfDB) also recently announced plans for an African Green Finance Facility Fund (AG3F) scheduled for launch this year, to tap into a lending opportunity it values at $3 trillion. 

Source: Bird

Our Takeaway

Across Africa, lenders are racing ahead to fill the climate funding gap and take advantage of opportunities in green finance, with a recent survey showing that banks are becoming more aware of the need to address risks posed by climate change. A 2021 survey by European Investment Banking in Africa shows that more than half of African banks view climate as a strategic issue and that more than 40% had their staff working on climate-related opportunities. Given the need to reinvent all sectors for climate resilience, Africa offers a massive green investment opportunity.

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South Africa’s Envisionit Deep AI gets $1.65m for expansion

Highlights

• Envisionit Deep AI, a healthtech startup that uses AI to bridge the demand for diagnostic imaging, has secured a $1.65 million investment from New GX Ventures SA after emerging as the Southern Africa regional winner at the African Startup Awards.
• The startup’s ultimate goal is to reduce the burdens in the healthcare system, especially in Africa, where infrastructure and human resource investments remain dismal.
• With the new funding, it plans to scale a suite of products beyond South Africa, including the Radify AI platform for medical imaging in the early diagnosis and treatment of disease.

Source: TechCrunch

Our Takeaway

Envisionit presents one of the most innovative uses of AI in Africa, where AI-focused tech startups are springing up and increasingly attracting VC dollars to serve several industries, including financial services, logistics, healthcare, and consumer goods (FMCGs). Earlier this year, Germany’s BioNTech SE announced its acquisition of InstaDeep, a Tunis-born AI startup, for up to $680 million. Egypt-based Instabug and Synapse Analytics raised $46 million and $2 million respectively last year and with the InstaDeep acquisition, we anticipate even more investments in AI-driven solutions this year.

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Telecel completes acquisition of 70% shares in Vodafone Ghana

Highlights

• Vodafone Group Plc has completed the transfer of its 70% majority shares in Vodafone Ghana (Ghana Telecommunications Company Limited – GTCL), to the Telecel Group.
• This comes after both parties successfully obtained all the necessary regulatory approvals, including the agreement of the Government of Ghana, as a minority shareholder. 
• This is the most recent major change for the Ghanaian telecoms company since 2008 when Vodafone purchased a controlling interest in GTCL and established its Ghana unit. The acquisition presents an opportunity for further telecom investments in the West African nation.

Source: ABC

Our Takeaway
Across Africa, we’re seeing advancements in the telecom industry driven by massive investments by local and foreign operators. As part of its acquisition of Vodafone’s operations and assets, for instance, Telecel intends to spend $500 million over a three-year period to refinance the network infrastructure across Ghana as well as committed to driving some changes in the area of financial technology (fintech) as part of the takeover. Per GSMA, total telecom operator revenues in sub-Saharan Africa will reach $57.4 billion by 2025, from $46.6 billion in 2021.