The Fund is sponsored by the Helios Team which is led by two Managing Directors: Tope Lawani and Babatunde Soyoye. The Fund Manager is wholly owned by the members of the investment team.

IFC intends to invest up to $20 million equity in the Fund.

20.0 million (USD)

Product Line	IFC Investment (million USD)
Risk Management
Guarantee
Loan
Equity	20.0

* These investment figures are indicative

Helios will operate mainly in West African countries and to a lesser extent, in countries in the Southern Africa region.

Helios is expected to have several positive development impacts, the key ones being:

- contributing to the overall private sector development in the target African countries by providing long-term capital to new businesses and existing businesses seeking expansion capital;
- investing in businesses that address inadequacies in public services and infrastructure and those that lower business transaction costs with a view to reducing the cost of provision of basic goods and services in target industries like telecommunication, electricity, water and food, investment in these development-critical sectors will improve distribution and accessibility to broader sectors of society; and
- contributing to the development of indigenous fund management teams in Africa by the transfer of knowledge of global investment management and ethical standards; by attracting foreign partners and experienced managers into Helios’ portfolio companies the standards of local management will also be enhanced.

The key contributions of IFC to Helios are:

- supporting a first-time African fund management team;
- taking on the role of an investment partner with local presence and experience.

This project has been classified as a Category F1 project according to IFC’s Environmental and Social Review Procedure. During appraisal, IFC will analyze the F1 portfolio, and the activities proposed to be supported with IFC financing for types of transactions, size, tenor and industry sectors and determine the Applicable Requirements, if any, that would include a combination of:

- The IFC F1 Exclusion List and/or
- The applicable National Environmental and Social Laws and regulations and/or
- The IFC Performance Standards.

IFC will also review, if required, the capacity of the Fund Manager to manage environmental and social risks and to establish and maintain a Social and Environmental Management System (SEMS). If required, IFC will suggest Supplemental Actions to address any gaps in the SEMS.

Based on the review, the project will be required to:

- Develop an, or upgrade, if necessary, any existing SEMS, prior to disbursement to the satisfaction of IFC
- Identify responsible, qualified persons to manage and implement the SEMS
- Commit to implement the SEMS, to ensure that its investments/activities supported by IFC financing are in compliance with the Applicable Requirements
- Commit to take action to remedy any gaps in SEMS implementation on an ongoing basis
- Submit a periodic report to IFC as per a format to be provided by IFC