4G Capital, East Africa’s leading fintech providing financial services to micro and small enterprises (MSEs), has secured a strategic investment of USD$2 million from GIF Growth, the Global Innovation Fund’s dedicated growth-stage vehicle.
This funding will enable 4G Capital to scale its innovative lending model, while expanding financial inclusion and deepening its reach among underserved businesses across East Africa’s informal economy.
More than 80% of employment in East Africa comes from the MSE sector but the majority of these businesses still remain excluded from the formal credit systems, partly due to limited financial records. Since its inception in 2013, 4G Capital has been addressing this gap, disbursing over USD$800 million in loans to over 755,000 clients across Kenya and Uganda.
Today, 4G Capital has issued 6.8 million loans that have supported entrepreneurs to grow their business and build more resilient livelihoods and is on track to surpass USD$1 billion in total lending since inception later this year.
The investment from GIF Growth will enable 4G Capital to expand by strengthening its proprietary ‘touch-tech’ model, an approach that combines digital lending platforms with in-person support from local field officers.
This hybrid model ensures that clients access capital while also receiving financial literacy training and business support.
The funding will also support 4G Capital’s continued development in its digital infrastructure and strategic partnerships, improving service delivery and enabling the company to scale efficiently while maintaining its strong community-based engagement.
GIF Growth was established to provide flexible, catalytic debt financing to high- impact, early growth stage businesses across Africa and Asia.
As its second investment, the partnership with 4G Capital reflects the fund’s focus on backing scalable solutions that address systemic barriers to economic opportunities. GIF Growth acts as a conduit for funding from leading development finance institutions, including those backed by the US, UK and Canada, alongside corporate partners such as Unilever.
Speaking on the strategic investment, Wayne Hennessy-Barrett, 4G Capital founder and executive chairman said:
“We are delighted to partner with the Global Innovation Fund. This investment provides us with the right kind of capital to scale our model sustainably and expand access to working capital and training for underserved entrepreneurs, particularly women and youth led businesses.”
The company is also considering launching a Series D funding round in the near future to support its next phase of digital scaling.
With this new investment, 4G Capital is poised to expand its reach while unlocking additional sources of capital and playing a leading role in advancing inclusive economic growth across East Africa.
The MSE sector is the heartbeat of growth in Africa and 4G is proud to be responsible for generating over $3 billion of economic impact.
