This new facility is secured through sustainability-linked debt financing arranged by IFC, Proparco, Emerging Africa Infrastructure and Asia Infrastructure Fund (EAAIF) and Ninety-One.

It will fund WIOCC Group’s ongoing expansion of connectivity capacity and digital infrastructure across Africa.

Samuel Ndungu, CFO of WIOCC Group, commented:

“This new financing underscores the continued confidence of our development finance partners in WIOCC Group’s long-term growth strategy and our role in driving Africa’s digital transformation. The additional capital enables us to further scale our network infrastructure, extend our data centre footprint and enhance the resilience and capacity of our pan-African digital ecosystem. Through this, we remain steadfast in our commitment to enabling digital inclusion and making an enduring contribution to the development of Africa’s digital economy.”

Chris Wood, CEO of WIOCC Group, also commented:

“This additional financing represents another significant step forward in advancing the resilient, scalable and open-access digital infrastructure required to support Africa’s growth. It strengthens our ability to execute on our long-term vision, expand our hyperscale network and data centre footprint, and continue building the continent’s most open, interconnected digital ecosystem. We are grateful for the continued confidence of our funding partners and remain fully committed to supporting the growth, innovation and digital inclusion that will shape Africa’s future.”

Also speaking, Sarvesh Suri, IFC’s regional industry director for Infrastructure and Natural Resources, Africa, said:

“IFC is proud to deepen its long-standing partnership with WIOCC Group as they scale Africa’s digital infrastructure. Through a blend of USD and ZAR financing, we are supporting WIOCC in optimizing its capital structure, mitigating currency risk, and accelerating investments in resilient, open-access networks. This commitment reflects our strategy to expand connectivity and data center capacity across the continent—advancing digital inclusion to drive job creation and economic growth.”

Puleng Pitso, investment specialist, Ninety-One, the fund manager for EAAIF, has this to say:

“Digital connectivity is one of the most powerful enablers of economic growth in Africa. By expanding access to high-speed internet, we are unlocking opportunities for entrepreneurs, small businesses, and industries to thrive in the digital economy. EAAIF and Ninety One’s investment in WIOCC will help strengthen the foundations for inclusive growth, job creation, and innovation across the continent.”

Françoise Lombard, CEO of Proparco, said:

“The AFD Group has been supporting WIOCC since its inception back in 2007. Proparco is very proud to reinforce the long-standing partnership with this flagship African player at a time when it has successfully evolved into a diversified digital infrastructure platform. By supporting WIOCC’s expansion across terrestrial fiber, submarine cables and open-access data centers, Proparco is helping strengthen a leading network that carries an important part of Africa’s internet traffic. This new financing, arranged alongside IFC and Ninety-One, will contribute to accelerating resilient, energy-efficient connectivity solutions in markets where reliable digital services are essential for economic transformation.”

Since its inception in 2008, the Group has deployed more than USD $750 million in digital infrastructure, including the linking of open-access data centres via hyperscale connectivity, fundamentally transforming the cost, reliability, and nature of communications across the continent.

As WIOCC expands its footprint, this latest financing reinforces its focus on building a resilient, inclusive, and future-ready carrier-neutral digital ecosystem.

As an anchor investor, EAAIF contributed $40 million to a $160 million collective anchor commitment alongside development finance leaders including IFC, British International Investment (BII), DEG, and Proparco.

The five-year bond saw overwhelming demand, closing with a 2x oversubscription and attracting over $1.3 billion in investor interest—testament to the market’s confidence in Axian Telecom’s vision and Africa’s thriving digital sector.

Backing a Bold Digital Vision for Africa

The new financing will supercharge Axian Telecom’s capital investment across its subsidiaries, supporting mobile broadband expansion, fibre rollout, data centre infrastructure, and subsea cable connectivity. Operating across nine African countries—including Madagascar, Tanzania, Senegal, Uganda, DRC, Comoros, and Togo—Axian now serves more than 40 million customers, with revenues growing 2.5x between 2020 and 2023. Its momentum has earned it a place among the Financial Times’ fastest-growing African companies.

Longstanding Partnership for Impact

This bond builds on a successful partnership. EAAIF also co-anchored Axian Telecom’s debut $420 million bond, which facilitated early-stage expansion in several frontier markets.

EAAIF’s strategic focus on telecom infrastructure, including mobile towers and sustainable data centers—has helped bridge connectivity gaps across underserved communities.

“Connectivity is the currency of the future,” said Tidiane Doucoure, director, Emerging Market Alternative Credit at Ninety One. “This bond is more than financing, it’s a catalyst for financial inclusion, entrepreneurship, and regional trade. Africa’s young, digital-native population is ready. Infrastructure must keep up.”

Strengthening Africa’s Debt Capital Markets

Beyond infrastructure, this transaction reinforces Africa’s growing debt capital markets. By enabling telcos to raise long-term capital via bonds, often at more favorable rates than traditional lending, EAAIF is expanding financial tools available to high-growth firms.

To date, the Fund has deployed over $320 million into telecom bonds, catalyzing more than $6.2 billion in total funding.

Hassan Jaber, CEO of Axian Telecom, reflected on the milestone:

“This support from EAAIF and our co-investors affirms the trust in our mission. With this capital, we’ll deepen our impact, scale digital infrastructure, and empower millions across Africa to thrive in a connected future.”

Shaping Africa’s Digital Future

From mobile broadband to climate-aligned data centres, Axian Telecom and EAAIF are laying the digital foundation of tomorrow’s Africa.

With every new tower and fibre mile, they are not just building networks, they are enabling education, innovation, inclusion, and opportunity across a continent on the rise.

But what about businesses that have lasted twice that long? Or a financial services group that has thrived for over 130 years, especially in Africa, where business survival rates are likely lower than those statistics from the Global North? Such a group has certainly earned the right to teach masterclasses on business longevity.

First HoldCo Plc (FirstHoldCo), recently rebranded from FBN Holdings Plc, exemplifies sustainable business practices.

A well-diversified group, it is one of Africa’s largest financial services organisations, offering innovative financial solutions through its subsidiaries in commercial banking, asset management, capital markets, securities, trusteeship, and insurance brokerage.

FirstHoldCo ensures strategic coordination and synergy among its subsidiaries to deliver long-term value for stakeholders.

Retaining the legacy strengths and experience of FBN Holdings Plc, FirstHoldCo ensures that its subsidiaries enhance positive environmental, social, and governance (ESG) impacts while minimising or eliminating negative ones.

This includes managing ESG risks in the workplace, marketplace, community, and environment, with the institutional capability to turn risks into opportunities.

For example, ESG risk management enhances credit and investment decision-making, de-risking processes for subsidiaries such as FirstBank and FBNQuest. It also strengthens social relationships with the communities in which these subsidiaries operate.

ESG and sustainability may be buzzwords for some corporations seeking to appear politically correct, but at FirstHoldCo, they are integral to its identity.

The company is self-driven in aligning its strategy and operations with ESG principles and setting new sustainability benchmarks for financial services in Nigeria.

FirstHoldCo’ s flagship subsidiaries, FirstBank and FBNQuest, integrate ESG risks into their products, services, and offerings from the ideation stage through to development and launch. This approach drives responsible lending and investment practices, enabling the group to leverage ESG market opportunities while promoting sustainable socio-economic growth.

FirstHoldCo also prioritises people empowerment, fostering a work environment rooted in equal opportunities, diversity, and inclusion. A notable achievement is bridging the diversity gap, reaching a 40% female to 60% male employee ratio in 2023, one year ahead of its 2024 target.

The group also supports the communities where its subsidiaries operate, ensuring its impact resonates positively.

Since 2017, it has implemented the SPARK (Start Performing Acts of Random Kindness) initiative and Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (CR&S) Week.

In 2023, these initiatives impacted 60,000 lives through outreaches to 60 orphanages, 20 schools, and hospitals across Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, The Gambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, and the United Kingdom.

Donations included consumables, computers, clean water projects, school renovations, wheelchairs, and cash. Employees committed over 27,000 volunteer hours to these initiatives.

In 2023, FirstBank reinforced its commitment to empowering women through FirstGem, a financial product supporting women-led businesses.

Over N36 billion in loans were disbursed at a single-digit interest rate of 9%. Additionally, its Agency Banking business, FirstMonie, expanded its female agent network to over 55,000.

Inclusion remains a key focus, with FirstBank enhancing accessibility for physically challenged customers in 234 locations, making 25 branches fully accessible and improving access at 209 others.

It also expanded the SPARK initiative to institutions like the Bethesda School of the Blind and the Down Syndrome Foundation in Lagos.

FirstBank operates an Environmental, Social, and Governance Management System (ESGMS) to drive responsible lending and minimize ESG risks. In 2023, this system was enhanced to ensure real-time transparency in corporate credit screenings. That year, 2,239 credit transactions worth N4.236 trillion were assessed for ESG risks.

To strengthen ESG compliance, FirstBank collaborates with development partners such as British International Investment, the African Development Bank, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and Proparco, a French development finance institution.

Its partnership with Proparco is crucial for integrating climate initiatives into business strategy. This project enhances its understanding of financed emissions and positions it for climate financing and investment opportunities.

This initiative will help FirstBank reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, mitigate exposure to physical and transition risks, and strengthen climate adaptation efforts.

It also reinforces its market competitiveness as an ESG leader committed to a low-carbon economy.

As part of its commitment to decarbonisation, FirstHoldCo’ s FirstBank actively engages in reforestation and afforestation through partnerships focused on carbon dioxide (CO2) removal. In 2023, it pledged to plant 50,000 trees by 2025 in collaboration with the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF).

That year, it planted 1,000 trees at the Lekki Conservation Centre, Lagos; Model Secondary School, Maitama, Abuja; and Federal Government Girls College, Calabar. By the following year, it had planted an additional 30,000 trees, bringing the total to 31,000.

FirstBank also drives thought leadership in climate finance, promoting knowledge on carbon mitigation and climate adaptation.

A notable effort was a webinar themed ‘Harnessing Climate Finance Opportunities in Nigeria,’ held in partnership with the Sustainability Practitioners Institute of Nigeria (SPIN).

The event featured prominent ESG and sustainability experts such as Professor Kenneth Amaeshi, Dr. Muntaqa Umaru-Sadiq, and Carina Dunker, underscoring FirstBank’s commitment to advancing climate finance discussions.

With so much achieved and ongoing ESG/sustainability initiatives, what is the greatest impact of ESG at FirstHoldCo?

For the group, it is the net positive effect on the communities where its subsidiaries operate. For individuals, it is the tangible benefits from its financial solutions and CSR initiatives.

For businesses, it is the sustainable practices FirstHoldCo champions, setting a standard for responsible corporate leadership

The finalists were selected from a cohort of 40 highly competitive Fintechs that made it to the semi-final stage of the competition.

This year’s challenge attracted over 1,550 applications from 70 countries in Africa and other global regions.

The finalists will showcase their innovative solutions at the Ecobank Fintech Challenge Grand Finale, scheduled for 27 September 2024, at the Ecobank Pan African Centre in Lomé, Togo.

The event will be streamed live on Ecobank Group’s social media channels, allowing a global audience to participate. Finalists of the challenge will compete for the US$50,000 ultimate prize during this highly anticipated event.

Speaking at the Semi-Final, Jeremy Awori, chief executive officer of Ecobank Group, remarked,

“The finalists in this year’s Ecobank Fintech Challenge have showcased exceptional talent and innovation; and we look forward to welcoming them to the Finale. At Ecobank, we’re committed to collaborating with these business builders to develop products and services that will benefit our customers and contribute to our continent’s progress”.

Showcasing the future of African fintech, here are the exceptional finalists of the 2024 Ecobank Fintech Challenge:

• BuuPass, Kenya
• Daba Finance,Ivory Coast
• EasyEquities, South Africa
• Exuus, Rwanda
• Melanin Kapital Neobank, Kenya
• MiaPay, Togo
• PaySika, Cameroon
• PROBOUTIK, Senegal
• Sawport Video Banking as a Virtual Branch, Nigeria
• Sproutly, Nigeria
• Vaultpay, Democratic Republic of the Congo
• YMO Africa, Guinea

The Ecobank Fintech Challenge, a flagship initiative of the Ecobank Group, organised for seven consecutive years, continues to serve as a premier continental platform for promoting innovation and collaboration between Fintechs and the pan-African Bank’s cross-border markets spanning 35 countries.

The challenge remains a significant event, attracting key players within the fintech ecosystem and beyond.

It provides a unique opportunity for fintech entrepreneurs to address challenges such as reaching scale, navigating an uncertain regulatory environment, and managing scarcity of funding.

In addition to financial rewards, the challenge offers Ecobank’s expertise in diversified market operations and the right solutions to scale across its pan-African footprint and international presence.

Since inception, 60 fintech startups have been inducted into the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship.

The Ecobank Fintech Challenge is designed in partnership with international advisory firm Konfidants and is supported by various partners including Huawei, Proparco, TechCabal, BlueSpace, Afrilabs, Africa Fintech Network, MEST Africa, Naija Startups, Expand In Africa and Founders Africa.

This year’s Grand Finale will bring together fintechs, regulators, investors, financial institutions, global technology companies, tech hubs, entrepreneurs, and industry experts.

Ecobank invites all key stakeholders within the Fintech ecosystem, and members of the general public to register for the Grand Finale via this link.

The financing includes loans of $10 million and ZAR 200 million (about USD$11) from IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and $20 million from Proparco, a development finance institution and subsidiary of the Agence Française de Développement Group.

WIOCC expects to sign an additional $10 million loan for its expansion in Nigeria with RMB in the next few weeks.

With the funding, WIOCC Group will expand its core and edge data centres in the DRC, Nigeria, and South Africa to meet growing demand for colocation and other data centre services.

It will also grow its fibre networks, helping bridge the digital divide, and fostering economic growth across Africa.

The financing is structured as a sustainability-linked debt, with pricing linked to WIOCC’s commitment to improve the energy efficiency of its data centres and obtain EDGE green building certification for them. EDGE, an innovation of IFC, makes it easy to design and certify resource-efficient and zero carbon buildings.

“We are excited to conclude this next stage of our capital raise, which will enable significant expansion, adding further capacity to our open-access data centre operation and extending open-access hyperscale national, international, and metro connectivity across our key markets in Nigeria, southern Africa, the DRC and Greater East and Central Africa,” said Chris Wood, CEO of WIOCC Group. “Our policy of continual investment in infrastructure to create Africa’s first, truly open-access interconnected digital ecosystem means ongoing investment for growth, ensuring readiness to meet the future demands of our clients’ customers throughout Africa.”

“The Agence Française de Développement Group have been supporting WIOCC since its inception back in 2007,” said Ariane Ducreux, head of Energy, Digital and Infrastructure at PROPARCO.

“We are very proud to pursue this long-term partnership by supporting the expansion of the Open Access Data Centres’ activities in Nigeria, South Africa, DRC and beyond. Truly neutral and open-access data centres are the cornerstone of a diversified digital ecosystem. Local data storage and processing capacity are also vital for the resilience of Africa’s digital network, as recent outages have demonstrated. The sustainability-linked structure of this new financing, along with technical assistance support, also aims to incentivize the rollout of energy and water efficient data centres, while adapting implementations to the specs of each site environment,” Ducreux said.

“Our long-standing partnership with WIOCC of more than 15 years demonstrates IFC’s commitment to increasing affordable and reliable digital connectivity in Africa through shared infrastructure. This new debt facility will help WIOCC fulfil its ambition to establish an integrated, open-access, core-to-edge cloud ecosystem throughout the African continent, which is critical to bridge the digital divide,” said Bertrand de la Borde, IFC Global Industry Director of infrastructure.

“RMB is thrilled to be a Strategic Banking Partner to WIOCC. Digital Infrastructure is one of our core sectors of expertise as a Bank.  As such, we are excited at the opportunity to support this deal and remain committed to partnering with WIOCC on its growth journey across the continent,” said Chidi Iwuchukwu, head of Investment Banking, Broader Africa – RMB.

Since its inception in 2007, WIOCC has been investing in Africa’s digital backbone, delivering open-access infrastructure to meet the growing demand for reliable connectivity solutions throughout the continent.

As WIOCC Group continues to transform digital Africa, this latest capital raise signifies a major milestone in its journey towards building a more connected Africa, fostering long-term partnerships and sustainability.

Since its inception in Nigeria in 2008, Proparco has focused its efforts on partnering with local and Pan-African financial institutions, investment funds, growth stage companies as well as startups within the renewable energy, agribusiness and tech space.

The goal of these investments is to improve the lives of Nigerians by providing access to essential needs such as electricity and financial services.

Proparco provides loans, equity, guarantees and technical assistance aimed at strengthening its customers’ financial capacity or bearing part of their risk.

The bulk of its commitments are intermediated via Nigerian banks and investment funds, which finance SMEs and start-ups in key development sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, education, energy, and financial services.

The African private sector is at the core of Proparco’s work; of the 2.3 billion euros committed globally by Proparco in 2022, 45% was for businesses based on the African continent. In order to sustain this commitment, Proparco has over the years designed or enhanced various tools:

• Digital Africa, a subsidiary that focuses on providing support to high impact digital tech startups;
• a venture capital activity focused on Africa, and
• Choose Africa, an initiative by the AFD Group which has committed 3.5 billion euros between 2018 and 2022 and supported more than 40,000 businesses and hundreds of thousands of micro-entrepreneurs.

This focus is equally reflected in the 2023-2027 strategy, which aims at supporting various players in the fight against long-term challenges affecting food security, inequality and climate.

“Africa holds the answers to many of the major challenges of the 21^st century and unlocking its entrepreneurial dynamism is at the core of our strategy for the next five years,” said Proparco’s CEO Françoise Lombard during her visit to Nigeria. “This is why we aim to concentrate a large share of our resources in the continent. As we mark an important milestone in Nigeria, we are committing to support the African private sector more effectively by enabling entrepreneurs to unleash their potential”

Over the last 15 years in Nigeria, Proparco has grown to become one of the prominent partners catalyzing growth in the finance, tech, energy, and climate sectors. Together with its mother company Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the group has successfully supported projects to develop and improve Nigeria’s energy infrastructure, including renewable energy and transmission and distribution networks.

For Jean Guyonnet-Dupérat, Regional Director of Proparco in Nigeria: “Nigerian business people are extremely bold entrepreneurs with an unshakable dynamism. Our commitment as financial partners is to build trust and support them with the expertise and financial tools they need to grow beyond their target. Together, we serve one common objective: building a prosperous and sustainable future.”

Key highlights of Proparco’s Impact in Nigeria:

• In 2022, Proparco and the European Union (EU) supported Nigerian bank, First City Monument Bank Ltd (FCMB), through the financing of a €325,000 technical assistance (TA) program. This program will enable the bank to develop its non-financial services offer, aimed at improving the financial inclusion of local Very Small and Medium Enterprises (VSEs) and women entrepreneurs, and to support them in their entrepreneurial process.
• In 2022, Proparco announced a $20M Trade Finance Guarantee Facility for Coronation Merchant Bank (CMB). This will enable Coronation Merchant Bank to establish and deepen partnerships with correspondent banks, thereby increasing access to trade finance in Nigeria.
• In 2022, Proparco made a USD 5m equity investment into Ventures Platform, a seed fund for Africa, designed to fill structural gaps by connecting underrepresented communities while improving livelihoods in Africa. Fifty innovative startups will be supported, specifically in the development of IT services (in the logistics, financial, e-commerce, education, transport and health sectors). One such startup already supported is Traction Apps, which develops IT tools for SMEs to manage their payments, sales, invoicing, and inventories, etc.
• In 2021, Proparco supported the Nigerian bank FCMB to strengthen its commitment to high-impact SMEs and climate projects. The operation consisted of a USD 35 million loan and a EURIZ portfolio guarantee of NGN 5 billion (EUR 10 million equivalent) to support First City Monument Bank Ltd (FCMB) strategy to serve high-impact SMEs and for climate finance. As a result, FCMB Bank’s client A4&T Power installed 1.5MWp of renewable capacity across mini-grids and customized systems for schools, health facilities, businesses, banks and communities impacting more than 100,000 people and creating 75 direct and indirect jobs.
• In 2021, Proparco, through the Digital Africa Bridge Fund, funded Metro Africa Xpress Inc. (“MAX”) – the largest vehicle subscription platform for low-to-zero emission vehicles in Africa. This was part of the $31 million of new capital injected in the first close of a Series B funding round.
• In 2021, Proparco allocated a portfolio guarantee to United Bank for Africa (UBA) to facilitate access to loans for Nigerian SMEs. Proparco’s operation will specifically contribute to financing SMEs in the education sector and SMEs set up by women.

Highlights of Proparco’s new “Acting Together for Greater Impacts” Strategy

Proparco structures its action globally around a shared vision of three key challenges, broken down in the new strategy as follows:

• Acting for a more sustainable and resilient economy  

Enabling private sector actors to access economic opportunities and strengthening the resilience of local economic systems in the most vulnerable African economies and regions.

• Acting for our planet  

Targeting our financing to have a greater impact on climate change mitigation and adaptation and on protecting biodiversity by helping our clients with their own climate transition.

• Acting for greater equality  

Helping to reduce inequalities to support a more just transition and reduce socio-territorial, gender and socio-economic inequalities.

With participation from Proparco and the French Public Investment Bank, the new round of funding brings the company’s total investment to $13.5 million to date, since being founded in 2016. 

ANKA fuels its efforts in product building as well as expanding its services to encourage and further develop African entrepreneurship on a global scale. 

The company is set to strengthen its presence in key countries where it has already recorded unparalleled growth; including Nigeria and Kenya for the number of sellers, and the US for its buyers and subscribers. Furthermore, ANKA also plans to use the investment to actively recruit sales, technical, and product talent to catalyse its growth.

Since its last injection of capital in 2022, ANKA has almost doubled its margins and its community of African SMEs in 47 out of 54 countries on the continent. The company processed over $50 million in transactions in over 175 countries around the world. Since its first round of fundraising in 2022, ANKA’s turnover has increased over 18 times from €200k to €3.6 million. 

The platform now aims to onboard 100,000 African sellers by 2030, championing the cross-border trade of “all things made of Africa” to a global audience. These achievements underline ANKA’s influential presence in the African e-commerce ecosystem. As well as its ambition to reach the same level as ‘Paypal’ for all the entrepreneurs on the continent.

ANKA provides a subscription model platform for African entrepreneurs to:

• Sell goods via a customised storefront, Instagram or WhatsApp 
• Be paid for goods and services via international payment methods and withdraw money instantly via local payment methods (e.g. mobile money or bank transfer) or ANKA’s dedicated VISA cards
• Access to an aggregation of the best shipping solutions to ship goods, such as with DHL service for less than $20 up to 2kg in under 72 hours.

Speaking about the fundraise, ANKA Co-Founder and CEO Moulaye Taboure said, “We are beyond thrilled to see our vision for our sellers and clients coming to fruition at an unprecedented scale. This new round of investment from our partners is crucial in pushing forward the creativity and innovation that we know is being spearheaded by the continent and that is speaking louder than ever on the global stage. The IFC in particular has had a long-term conviction in our leadership of these industries, and we’re delighted that they, as well as our other investors, could be a part of extending our mission of Unleashing the growth of African entrepreneurship”.

COO and Co-Founder of ANKA Abdoul Kadry Diallo added, “We have always believed in the untapped cultural wealth of the continent. Our continent has amazing people, products and services that can contribute significantly to the global economy. This additional round of funding will allow us to continue improving our operational efficiencies, supporting us to achieve the next level of profitable growth, not only for us but for our sellers”.  

Globally, the world has a vast distribution of African diaspora, with close to 45 million people of African descent living in North America, and 10 million living in Europe. Both regions are already home to ANKA’s biggest exports and represent a significant growth opportunity for the company as it pursues its goal to boost the investment in and sale of Africa’s creative economy, globally. 

Makhtar Diop, IFC Managing Director said: “Empowering African artisans, particularly women, and helping them access wider markets is crucial to raise the bar of economic inclusion and spur sustainable growth. ANKA’s strategy of connecting artisanal fashion designers and merchants to global markets aligns with our vision of supporting Africa’s creative industry to unlock new opportunities for inclusive growth.”

Fabrice Perez, Head of Proparco VC division shared: “We are delighted to see the growing impact of ANKA on the development of SMEs in Africa, as well as on employment for women, who account for 80% of the 20,000 merchants using the platform. Following a loan bridge by Digital Africa (fully repaid now), this equity investment reaffirms Proparco’s support for ANKA.”

Currently, ANKA is recruiting for a number of roles throughout the business. For a full list of current roles, please visit the recruitment portal.

Having raised an initial $2.1 million in seed funding, 2020, the current pre-Series A round boosts the total funding amount raised by Workpay. Investors in the current round were Launch Africa, Saviu Ventures, Acadian Ventures, Proparco, Fondation Botnar, Kara Ventures, Axian, P1 Ventures, and Norrsken. 

The YC-backed startup, W20 batch, was founded by the CEO, Paul Kimani and COO, Jackson Kungu. It plans to launch a payroll engine to serve customers in more markets, while it ensures efficient service provision and will release an API to enable firms such as accounting companies become payroll providers.

Workpay is a full-stack HR Payroll company that helps employees to manage and pay workers. The HR company offers tools that enable these clients pay salaries in local currencies across and outside Africa through partners, provides file taxes, and processes employee benefits. The tools also help employers track and manage employees’ time and attendance, as well as leave days.

The startup looks to include financial services in its offerings as it adds linkages to investment accounts, medical and asset insurance, and earned-wage access for employees attending to emergencies or bills.

Workpay affirms to experience a tremendous user base increase with revenue doubling annually, and has about $200 million in total payroll value being handled for customers every year.

DEG, a subsidiary of Germany’s state-owned KfW Group, has provided financing, advice and support to enterprises in developing and emerging-market countries since its inception in 1962. The transaction builds on a partnership with Africa Finance Corporation that began in 2012 and has resulted in several loans from DEG, including a recent $170 million 12-year loan in 2021.

Petra Kotte, Head of Banking and German Business, highlighted the strategic partnership with Africa Finance Corporation:

“DEG is very happy to have arranged this facility with our long-standing partner Proparco and thus cementing our excellent relationship with Africa’s leading infrastructure financier AFC. The facility contributes to closing Africa’s infrastructure gap, positively impacting on the livelihood of surrounding communities, and supporting AFC in their endeavour to reduce the continent’s footprint as part of their dedicated climate resilience strategy.”

Proparco, the private sector financing arm of Agence Française de Développement Group (AFD Group), has been promoting sustainable economic, social and environmental development by providing funding and support to businesses and financial institutions in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East for over 45 years. 

Its action focuses on key development sectors including infrastructure, mainly for renewable energies, as well as agribusiness, financial institutions, health and education. Proparco provided Africa Finance Corporation in 2021 with a $50m senior credit line in the $170 million syndicated loan led by DEG.

Emmanuelle RIEDEL DROUIN, Global Head – Lending Operations, said: “Proparco is very happy to be participating in this transaction arranged by DEG for the benefit of AFC, a key player in financing much-needed infrastructure in Africa, which remains one of the continent’s main challenges, notably in terms of access to clean energy and transport. AFC is also a member of the International Development Finance Club, chaired by AFD since 2017, and we commend its strong commitment to supporting climate resilient infrastructure and to accelerating the just transition in Africa, as evidenced during the COP27.”

The new credit facility supports the development and implementation of infrastructure projects that enhance the continent’s economic, environmental, or social impact under AFC’s Establishment Agreement and Charter.

“Our strategic partnership with DEG and Proparco mobilises urgently needed capital to rebuild Africa with more resilient and sustainable infrastructure across critical sectors,” said Banji Fehintola, Senior Director, Head of Treasury & Financial Institutions at AFC.

“As part of AFC’s strategy to catalyse infrastructure financing and impact development in Africa, the Corporation draws capital from a diverse range of international investors and lenders. We appreciate the confidence that DEG and Proparco continue to demonstrate in us as a strategic partner and infrastructure solutions provider.”