43267 - Ascent Fund II

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Summary of Investment Information

Project Number

43267

Company Name

ASCENT RIFT VALLEY FUND II LP

Date SPI Disclosed

Apr 17, 2024

Country

Eastern Africa Region

Region

Africa

Projected Board Date

Dec 4, 2020

Environmental Category

FI-2 - Limited

Status

Active

Last Updated Date

Sep 12, 2024

Department

CDFPE - Disruptive Technologies and Funds/Private Equity Funds

Industry

Funds

Previous Events

Approved : Jul 17, 2017
Signed : Mar 31, 2021
Invested : Jul 19, 2021

Sector

Small Business Fund

Project Description

The proposed project is for an equity investment of up to USD$10 million in Ascent Rift Valley Fund II L.P. (the “Fund”), a 10-year closed-end generalist private equity fund targeting small and medium companies in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. The Fund is seeking to raise USD$120 million of total committed capital

Sponsor / Cost / Location

Product Line	IFC Investment (million USD)
Risk Management
Guarantee
Loan
Equity	250.0

Development Impact

Expected Development Impact include: (i) Providing access to growth equity and business advice to underserved companies in East Africa; (ii) Contribution to market creation by enabling private sector development demonstrating the viability of PE investments in a low-income IDA countries like Ethiopia and Uganda that are underserved by PE funds; (iii) Job creation and economic growth through financing SMEs, which are a growth driver in East Africa; and (iv) At the investee level - operational and financial improvements, implementation of best practice corporate governance and ESG improvements of local businesses.

E&S Category Rationale / Risks and Mitigation

This project has been classified as category FI-2 in accordance with IFC Policy on Environmental and Social Sustainability. The Fund will target consumer-driven sectors such as manufacturing, healthcare, fast moving consumer goods, retail, agri-processing, and financial services. The activities in these sectors are considered medium risk with the potential for limited, site-specific environmental and social impacts which can be addressed through mitigation measures.

The Fund Manager will be required to screen investments against the Exclusion List, the applicable national social and environmental laws in host countries of portfolio companies, and the IFC Performance Standards. Given the sectors of focus for ARVF II, the fund will not invest in coal mining, coal-related activities, and higher-risk transactions that may include: (a) involuntary resettlement; (b) potential adverse impacts on Indigenous Peoples; (c) significant risks to or impacts on the environment, community health and safety, biodiversity, cultural heritage; or (d) significant occupational health and safety risks.

In accordance with IFC's Access to Information Policy, IFC will periodically disclose the names, locations and sectors of sub-projects that have been supported by IFC investments through private equity funds, subject to regulatory constraints and market sensitivities. The sub-project(s) listed below reflect(s) the status of the portfolio as of January 1, 2025.

Investee	Country Of Investment	Sector
ACME Containers Ltd	Kenya	L-AC - Other Plastic and Rubber Products
Diani Beach Hospital	Kenya	S-AA - Hospitals and Clinics
Dune	Kenya	J-AG - Paper Packaging Products (Including Boxes, Cartons, etc.)
Platcorp	Kenya	O-FA - Other Non-Banking Financial Institution (NBFI)
Valley Hospital Ltd	Kenya	S-AA - Hospitals and Clinics

The key risk in this project is ability of the fund manager to undertake E&S due diligence to identify and manage the E&S risks associated with the activities of the proposed portfolio companies in line with IFC’s policy requirements. E&S risks are expected to entail occupational health and safety and environmental impacts such as the generation of waste and wastewater, and air emissions.

Summary of Client Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS)

As part of ARVF I, the Fund has been implementing effectively its ESMS to assess E&S risks at investments. The ESMS ensures that E&S risks and impacts associated with the activities of investee companies are adequately identified and assessed, and appropriate mitigation measures identified to address any identified gaps. The Fund has designated staff with E&S responsibilities, including a Sustainability Manager with good understanding of E&S risk management and all the portfolio companies in ARVF I have designated EHS officers. The Fund hires external experts for managing E&S risks of their investments when required

Contacts

For Inquiries About the Project, Contact

Ascent Capital
Lucas Kranck
Partner
+254795737720

3rd Floor Block E ABC Place
https://ascent-africa.com/

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Telephone: 202-473-3800
Fax: 202-974-4384

IFC supports its clients in addressing environmental and social issues arising from their business activities by requiring its real sector clients to set up and administer appropriate grievance mechanisms and/or procedures to address complaints from Affected Communities in relation to environmental and social issues arising from IFC's clients' business activities. Since 2012, IFC's Financial Intermediary clients applying the Performance Standards are required to develop External Communications Mechanisms to receive and review inquiries or complaints from any interested party regarding the E&S risks and impacts of their operations.

For IFC projects that are active or under consideration, individual(s), or their authorized representative(s), who allege they have been or will be adversely affected by E&S risks or impacts arising from IFC's clients' business activities, may submit a complaint to IFC directly for consideration. When receiving an E&S complaint, IFC engages with complainants and works with its clients to find solutions to E&S concerns as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Complaints can be submitted to IFC online at www.ifc.org/escomplaints or by email to EScomplaints@ifc.org.

IFC complaint response is separate from and complementary to IFC’s clients’ project level grievance mechanisms and IFC’s Independent Accountability Mechanism (CAO). Lodging a complaint directly with IFC does not, at any time, restrict access to CAO.

Affected communities have unrestricted access to the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), the independent accountability mechanism for IFC and MIGA. CAO facilitates the resolution of complaints related to IFC and MIGA projects and sub-projects, undertakes reviews of IFC’s and MIGA’s environmental and social compliance, fosters public accountability for their commitments, and enhances the environmental and social performance of IFC and MIGA.

Independent of IFC and MIGA management and reporting directly to the IFC and MIGA Boards of Executive Directors, CAO helps resolve issues raised about the environmental and social impacts of projects through a neutral, collaborative, problem-solving approach via its Dispute Resolution function. It also reviews IFC’s and MIGA’s compliance with environmental and social policies, assesses related harm, and recommends remedial actions through its Compliance function. Additionally, CAO provides advice to IFC, MIGA, and their Boards to enhance environmental and social sustainability performance and minimize the risk of harm.

Complaints may relate to environmental and social harm regarding any aspect of the planning, implementation, or impact of a project or sub-project, and can be made by any individual, group, community, entity, or other party affected or likely to be affected by the environmental or social impacts of an IFC- or MIGA-financed business activity.

Complaints can be submitted by any of the following methods:

Online form: available at https://www.cao-ombudsman.org/
Mail/Hand Delivery to: 2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA
Voice mail: +1 202 458 1973
Email: cao@worldbankgroup.org
SMS, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal: +1 202 650 2627

CAO receives and addresses complaints in accordance with the CAO Policy, which can be accessed at: https://www.cao-ombudsman.org/policies-guidelines.

This Summary of Investment Information (SII) is prepared by IFC to disclose a factual summary of the main elements of the potential investment. It also includes findings and recommendations related to environmental and social considerations regarding this potential investment. The purpose of the SII is to enhance the transparency of IFC’s activities. For any project documentation or data included or attached herein, whether prepared by the project sponsor or otherwise, authorization has been given for public release by the project sponsor. IFC considers that this SII is of adequate quality for release to the public, but has not necessarily independently verified all of the project information therein. It is distributed in advance of IFC Board of Directors’ consideration and may be periodically updated thereafter. Board dates are estimates only and this document should not be construed as presuming the outcome of the Board Directors’ decision. The following SII is disclosed in accordance with IFC's Access to Information Policy (AIP) that went into effect on January 1, 2012.

The map is for illustrative purposes and does not imply the expression of any opinion on the part of the World Bank, concerning the legal status of any country or territory or concerning the delimitation of frontiers or boundaries. Country borders or names do not necessarily reflect the World Bank Group's official position. In some cases, available project location information is limited to the country of the project's activities. Locations are approximate.

Action Required	Anticipated Completion Date
Delivering training programs	By commitment
Development of an external communication mechanism	By commitment

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