The Africa Development Bank said it had approved the sum of $12.5m equity investment in Alitheia Identity Fund to invest in Small and Medium Enterprises being driven by women.
AIF is a private equity fund managed by Alitheia Identity Managers, a joint venture between two established women-owned fund management companies, Alitheia Capital Limited of Nigeria and Identity Development Fund Managers of South Africa.
According to a statement by AfDB, AIF intends to raise $100m in two closings to make equity investments in high-growth established SMEs, with emphasis on women-managed SMEs in 10 African countries.
The countries are Malawi, Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ghana and Nigeria.