The African Development Bank (AfDB) on Friday said it has approved $15 million for equity investment in Verod Capital Growth Fund III, a private equity fund for investments in high growth middle market companies.
AfDB said that the figure was approved by its Board of Directors for companies in Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Gambia.
The bank’s Director of Industrial and Trade Development, Abdu Mukhtar, said the fund would help accelerate investments in small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in the West African region.
He said, “This is key to job and wealth creation, knowledge transfer and scaling up of local businesses.
“The Fund will provide an important vehicle to growing SMEs in Africa, which are a key pillar to the continent’s industrialization drive.”
The bank explained that the fund’s investments would be in companies in consumer-driven sectors including light industrials, fast-moving consumer goods, education, financial services and agro-processing.
According to a statement posted on the bank’s website, the fund’s target size is $150 million and ticket size for each investment would be between $5 million and $20 million dollars.