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About
I&P is part of a new ambitious initiative for the investment industry in Sub-Saharan Africa: the USD$200 million Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund, a Fund of Funds which works through African investment vehicles to support early-stage, growth-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups on the continent.
Strategy: an initiative dedicated to African investment vehicles
African SMEs struggle to access the financing they need to scale, constraining their potential for job creation and limiting their development.
The Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund tackles this challenge by investing in and strengthening African investment vehicles that in turn support African SMEs.
In addition to providing capital for investment vehicles, the Fund of Funds offers a business development facility for their portfolio companies.
Targets and objectives
The Fund-of-Funds initiative uses gender-lens investing principles to help advance the Mastercard Foundation’s Young Africa Works strategy, which aims to enable 30 million young people in Africa, particularly young women, to access dignified and fulfilling work by 2030.
The program provides funding for Early-stage, Growth, Debt and Seed VC Funds and other non-traditional funds. A promising pipeline of 180 diverse investment vehicles has already been built.
Case study: Aruwa Capital Partners
The first investment of the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund went to Aruwa Capital Management, a gender-lens $USD 20M fund dedicated to Nigeria's SMEs, managed by a first-time woman-led fund manager.
Launched in 2019 by Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes to address the investment gap that women led enterprises face in Africa, the fund invests in women focused small and growing businesses in Nigeria and Ghana, targeting investments in critical sectors such as healthcare, fintech, renewable energy, and essential consumer goods.
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The team
Aïssatou Gaye
Benson Gagi
Dennis Onyango
Eléonore Mississo
Hugues Vincent-Genod
Hugues Vincent-Genod
Hugues joined I&P in 2011 and holds the position of Director within the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund program since 2022.
Lucy Kimeu
Thelma Kodowu
Thelma Kodowu
Thelma joined I&P in 2023 and holds the position of Investment Manager within the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund. She is based in Accra.
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Wiem Abdeljaouad
Consortium partners
The Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund is implemented by a consortium of partners, led by Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) and including Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P), Entrepreneurial Solutions Partners (ESP), Genesis Analytics, the Criterion Institute, and Africa Communications Media Group.
Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P) is the Fund Advisor for the Fund of Funds, responsible for sourcing, assessing, and supporting the investment vehicles.
Initiator and funder
Lead
Business Development Services provider
Fund advisor
Gender, Diversity & Inclusion advisor
Learning partner
Communication partner
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 The first investment of the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund goes to Aruwa Capital ManagementNews | 05/12/2022 The first investment of the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund (whose launch was announced last week) goes to Aruwa Capital Management, a gender-lens 20mUSD fund dedicated to Nigeria's SMEs, managed by a first-time woman-led fund manager. Aruwa announced today the successful... |
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