Samawati Capital Partners appointed as a sub-advisor to Sahel Capital for the USD 24m Social Enterprise Fund for Agriculture in Africa

Samawati Capital Partners is proud to partner with Sahel Capital as a sub-advisor to its new fund mandate, the Social Enterprise Fund for Agriculture in Africa (SEFAA). 

Sahel Capital will act as investment adviser to the $24 million fund sponsored by the German development bank KfW. KfW has been a committed supporter of agricultural development on the African continent and over the past eight years has anchored several other funds such as Africa Agriculture and Trade Investment Fund (AATIF), Fund for Agricultural Finance in Nigeria (FAFIN), and Lending for African Farming Company (LAFCo). Samawati is a sub-advisor to the investment advisor of AATIF supporting activities in the East and Southern African region, and Samawati will now further support Sahel Capital on the SEFAA mandate, originating transactions within the same region.

SEFAA is an impact fund with the goal of reducing poverty by investing in agricultural enterprises that contribute significantly to enhancing the business eco-system, or income opportunities, of smallholder farmers (SHFs) in sub-Saharan Africa. 

The fund will invest across the agricultural value chain with a particular focus on enterprises or intermediaries that increase productivity of smallholder farmers (SHFs), address market access limitations or information asymmetries, or offer agricultural finance tailored to the specific needs and production cycles of SHFs. In addition to SEFAA’s targeted impact of reducing poverty through its investments, the fund is also expected to create and preserve jobs and deliver on six of the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6). 

SEFAA will invest primarily in debt (but with flexibility to invest some equity or quasi-equity) with the aim of filling the financing gap for earlier-stage enterprises that may not yet be mature or profitable enough to get equity and/or debt from commercial capital providers. 

The SEFAA’s sub-advisor mandate fits well with Samawati Capital’s mission of directing capacity and capital to high-growth SMEs in Africa to drive socio-economic transformation in the region.