Investors update: M-Kopa raises $250m for African expansion

M-Kopa raises $250m to scale its consumer financing fintech across Africa

Highlights

• M-Kopa, the asset financing platform that offers underbanked African customers access to “productive assets” and the ability to pay for them via digital micropayments, has secured over $250 million in new funding. 
• The capital injection includes $55 million in equity and over $200 million in debt. Following the $75 million in equity the Kenyan-based fintech announced last March, M-KOPA has raised $245 million in equity funding since its inception in 2011. 
• Given its success in East and West Africa, where it has sold over a million solar home systems, M-KOPA now sets its sights on South Africa. 

Source: ABC

Our Takeaway

Most Africans face purchasing challenges due to low-income, limited credit histories, and lack of collateral. Strong identity and credit scoring infrastructure in developed markets enables credit access but in Africa, where 85% of the population lives on barely $5.50 daily, making major purchases without credit is difficult while access remains limited. M-Kopa uses debt to finance customers’ purchases on its platform, such as smartphones, solar power systems, loans, and health insurance across Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, and Nigeria. The huge fundraising sums testify to its strong fundamentals, key for any growth-stage company looking to raise in this current subdued VC climate.

---

Figorr bags $1.5m to expand insurance for perishable goods in Africa

Highlights

• Nigerian-based cold chain startup Figorr has raised $1.5 million in a seed funding round led by Atlantica Ventures, with participation from VestedWorld, Jaza Rift Ventures, and Katapult VC.
• Figorr (previously Gricd) runs IoT-powered solutions that provide businesses, especially those in healthcare and agriculture, with key data such as location, humidity, and temperature of highly-perishable products.
• With the funding, the startup is currently on an expansion bid. Outside Nigeria, Figorr’s solutions are currently used in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Source: TechCabal

Our Takeaway

In sub-Saharan Africa, a significant portion of food production, accounting for approximately 37%, equivalent to 120-170 kg per capita per year, goes to waste or is lost due to inadequate storage and handling practices. However, these losses can be prevented by ensuring safe storage and real-time monitoring of food to mitigate wastage. Additionally, the global vaccine wastage problem is alarming, with an estimated 50% of vaccines being rendered unusable due to breaches in the cold-chain system. To address these challenges caused by substandard storage and monitoring, innovative startups like Figorr are playing a crucial role in preventing unnecessary losses.

---

Angola’s energy sector sees a new wave of global investments

Highlights

• Angola’s oil and gas sector is witnessing an accelerated pace of new investments over the past few months thanks to the rising oil prices, per Deutsche Bank.
• The new wave of investments supports the government in its ESG objectives and energy security, the bank said, citing Azule Energy’s seven-year $2.5 billion pre-export financing signed in August 2022.
• The company was formed as a 50/50 joint venture between industry leaders BP and EN and holds two billion barrels equivalent of net resources, expected to grow to ~250,000 barrels equivalent a day (boe/d) of equity oil and gas production by 2028.

Source: Zawya

Our Takeaway

Angola, Africa’s second-biggest oil producer, holds the continent’s second-greatest oil reserves, estimated at nearly nine billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves and 1.6 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves. Last week, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) monthly oil market said Angola recorded 1.06 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude production in April, becoming the top African crude oil producer for the month.