Alitheia IDF Boosts African Women’s Business With $100m
A women-focused private equity fund in Africa, Alitheia IDF says it has raised $100 million to boost African Women-led Businesses.
The fund which components comprise $24.6 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB), the African Development Bank, Bank of Industry Nigeria, FinDev Canada and the women-led Growth Fund is expected to close funding gaps among women-led businesses on the continent.
Beneficiaries of the Fund are Jetstream Africa (Ghana), ReelFruit Ltd (Nigeria), SKLthe D (formerly SchoolKits, Nigeria), AV Light Steel (South Africa) and Chika’s Food (Nigeria).
African women have remained underfunded by the financial sector even as the historical investment gap between men and women continues to wide
Estimates show that African women receive less than 5 per cent of all investment on the continent even though over 40 per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Africa are women-led.
By applying a gender-smart lens to investment, Alitheia IDF is setting the pace and providing a framework for gender-inclusive investments to enable economic growth for African countries and, critically, African women.
Speaking on the deal, Tokunboh Ishmael, principal partner of Alitheia IDF in Nigeria, said women globally have tremendous purchasing power as consumers and controllers of household economics.
In the same vein, women entrepreneurs have a significant presence in Africa’s SME sector with African women making up 58 per cent of the continent’s self-employed population.
“However, despite this economic power and presence, African women are underserved as consumers and producers. This has had a huge impact on economic growth as the potential of more than half of the continent’s population remain untapped due to structural and systemic issues”, Tokunbo noted
“We are proactively working towards filling this gap with a clear mandate to support women-led businesses across the continent while raising awareness for gender smart investment as a path towards inclusive economic growth.”
Also speaking, Thomas Astros, EIB vice-president, said: “Women-owned businesses still struggle to raise funding, although they have proven their performance. I am very pleased to support a true ‘by women for women Flagship fund that invests in companies creating job opportunities while enhancing diversity in sub-Saharan Africa’s economy.”
The EIB’s investment in Alitheia IDF is part of the Shelves initiative seeking to mobilise €2 billion of investment to boost gender equality and female economic empowerment across the African continent. It is believed that gender equality will make societies stronger.
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