48294 - Norrsken22 Fund

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Summary of Investment Information

Project Number

48294

Company Name

NORRSKEN22 AFRICA FUND

Date SPI Disclosed

May 22, 2023

Country

Africa Region

Region

Africa

Projected Board Date

Jun 22, 2023

Environmental Category

FI-2 - Limited

Status

Active

Last Updated Date

Dec 23, 2023

Department

Equity Portfolio Management

Industry

Funds

Previous Events

Approved : Jun 23, 2023
Signed : Jun 27, 2023
Invested : Dec 21, 2023

Sector

Venture Capital Fund

Project Description

IFC is considering an equity investment of up to US$10 million in N22 Africa Fund (the “Fund”), a Sweden domiciled Pan-African late-stage VC fund targeting to raise US$200 million.

Associated Advisory Engagement

There are no advisory services associated with this engagement

Sponsor / Cost / Location

Product Line	IFC Investment (million USD)
Risk Management
Guarantee
Loan	0.0
Equity	10.0

Development Impact

Stakeholders (investee companies): Increased access to late-stage venture capital funding and value creation services for technology companies in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana: The fund will provide access to equity and value-creation for investees, including helping them raise follow-on capital, introducing experts to portfolio companies to accelerate growth and leveraging their networks and relationships to enable the investees to reach scale. Competitiveness – Strengthening the competitiveness of the Venture Capital Market in the Sub-Saharan Africa region (especially Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Ghana), by supporting the expansion of the Series B-C segment. The Venture Capital Markets in most target countries remain underdeveloped, especially at the Series B-C investment stage. IFC is supporting the establishment of a first-time fund focused on the Series B-C investment stage in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Ghana. Subject to a successful establishment and execution of the Fund, the Project is expected to demonstrate the commercial viability and help mitigate risk perceptions of the VC fund model in this unattended Series B-C segment and encourage other fund managers to raise new or follow funds, thereby inducing the expansion of the VC market, beyond the Fund. Integration – Strengthening market integration in the real and financial sector in the target countries, through the expansion of investees with disruptive business models: The Fund is supporting investees in developing tech-led innovative solutions to disrupt various real and financial sector business models. IFC expects this will increase competitiveness across markets characterized by informality, inefficiencies, and limited innovation. The investees’ innovative business models can strengthen supply chains by reducing the role of brokers and intermediaries, improving price transparency, and having a demonstration effect by catalyzing replication from new entrants. In markets where investees grow rapidly and become sizeable market players, innovation at scale can generate large impacts on a market’s competitiveness by pushing other players to innovate. Beyond these market creation claims, the successful establishment of the women-led VC Fund in the market has the potential to catalyze increased inclusiveness of the VC market in the target countries.

The project has financial and non-financial additionality. Own account equity: IFC will provide own account equity of US$10 million to enable the women-led, Africa-focused Fund to achieve its target size of US$200 million. Noting that the Fund already achieved a second close, IFC’s participation is critical as it functions as the anchor investor at final close, and it is supporting a first-time fund manager primarily managed by female partners which typically face more substantial fundraising challenges. Furthermore, while VC fundraising in Sub-Saharan Africa has risen over the last couple of years, it remains low compared to most other emerging markets as the asset class continues to have a high-risk perception which moderates fundraising prospects. Standard Setting: Acknowledging other DFIs have invested in the Fund, it is expected that IFC will help the Fund Manager improve their Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS) in line with IFC’s Performance standards, in turn improving standards at the investee level.

E&S Category Rationale / Risks and Mitigation

The project has been categorized as FI-2 (medium risk). The Fund would be focused on investments in Fintech, EdTech, MedTech and Market enablement (logistics, marketplaces, B2B SaaS, digital identity) technologies in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, and South Africa. E&S risks are considered low to medium and are expected to have potential limited adverse environmental and/or social risks or impacts that are few in number, generally site specific, largely reversible, and can be readily addressed through mitigation measures. The main E&S risks and impacts of the Project derive from the E&S risks associated with the Fund's investment activities and its E&S capacity and system in place to manage these risks. These risks typically include occupational health and safety issues, and labor and working conditions issues, among others.

The Project will not support investment activities on the IFC Exclusion List, coal-related activities or higher-risk investments that may include a) involuntary resettlement, b) risk of 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. IFC’s applicable E&S requirements for this Project will be the IFC Exclusion List, the host country laws and regulations, and the IFC's Performance Standards.

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
Autocheck	Nigeria	M-CD- Automotive and Light Vehicle
Credrails	Nigeria	R-AC- Other Services (Including IT Enabled Services)
OneOrder	Egypt, Arab Republic of	Q-AD- Grocery Wholesale (B2B Food Suppliers, Wholesalers etc.)
Sabii	Nigeria	Q-BF- Internet Retailers (e-Commerce Companies, platforms, marketplace etc.)
Shara Inc	Kenya	O-MF- Virtual lending, P2P, crowdfunding
Tyme Bank SA	South Africa	O-MB- E-wallets, virtual banks
WorkPay	Kenya	R-AC- Other Services (Including IT Enabled Services)

Contacts

For Inquiries About the Project, Contact

N22 Africa Management AB
Natalie Kolbe
Managing Partner
+27 82 371 4144
info@norrsken22.com
N22 Africa Management AB Birger Jarlsgatan 57 C 113 56 Stockholm Sweden
www.norrsken22.com

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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.

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