The Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund (MFAGF), a fund of funds that works through African investment vehicles to support early-stage, growth-oriented SMEs on the continent, has launched with a committed US$200 million.
The goal of the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund is to enable dignified and fulfilling work for young people, particularly young women. The fund of funds is bold and catalytic, helping to crowd in capital for African entrepreneurs by strengthening and de-risking African investment vehicles that are committed to advancing gender equity in entrepreneurship.
In addition to providing capital for investment vehicles, the MFAGF will offer a business development facility for its portfolio companies. The initiative will use 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.
So far, the Fund-of-Funds has recruited two investment vehicles supporting entrepreneurial growth – one in East Africa and one in West Africa.
“We need to do everything it takes now to build a continent with shared prosperity and sustainable, inclusive growth,” said Dr Dorothy Nyambi, president and CEO of MEDA “This fund of funds will strengthen and empower a new crop of African investment vehicles to drive decent job creation for women and youth via investments in small and medium-sized enterprises.”
