Managing Director Nimrod Gerber spoke to The Kenyan Wall Street podcast to discuss what makes Vital Capital stand out. He highlighted the Vital team’s experience living and managing businesses in Africa, which allows us to understand local businesses and seize opportunities that traditional private equity firms may shy away from. Listen to the full podcast.
LARNACA, Cyprus & NAIROBI, Kenya – Vital Capital, a pioneering impact investor that has been working with companies in sub-Saharan Africa for more than a decade, is pleased to announce the approval of two new loans from its Vital Impact Relief Facility (VIRF), which was launched last year to help fundamentally sound African businesses navigate short-term challenges.
The two loans were made to Sollatek, a leading manufacturer of solar and voltage control products, and Privamnuts, a macadamia nut processor and exporter which is leading the modernization of the macadamia industry in Kenya. Both companies are examples of promising and successful private enterprises that are bringing about positive economic and social impact to the communities in which they operate.
The solar and power control products that Sollatek distributes, for example, provide essential services to rural and peri-urban households and businesses in East Africa that are without access to the grid or stable energy sources. Sollatek’s photovoltaic systems represent the most affordable option for electrifying homes in many rural, sparsely populated areas.
Privamnuts, which sources its nuts from the slopes of Mount Kenya, provides a key link between the more than 10,000 smallholder farmers who represent its exclusive suppliers and the export markets, where Kenya is the third-largest macadamia nut producer in the world. Privamnuts’ strategic goals include improving smallholders’ access to agricultural training, the financial health of farmers, and opportunities for women, who make up the majority of Privamnuts’ smallholder suppliers and employees.
“We are excited to be partnering with Vital Capital, with whom our goals are aligned,” said Privamnuts Managing Director, Patrick Mukundi Mbogo. “Privamnuts and Vital believe in creating high quality jobs that can improve the economic and social well-being of workers and uplift communities without sacrificing performance.”
Vital launched the debt facility last year amid the global pandemic, when it was clear that economic shocks caused by the spread of Covid-19 threatened the ability of even financially strong African businesses to continue providing essential jobs and essential services to communities in need.
Though some economies in Africa are emerging from the worst of the pandemic, what remains clear is that even under normal circumstances, promising small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) require occasional support to navigate short-term challenges. This is why Vital Capital remains committed to utilizing its debt facility to safeguard the positive financial, social, and environmental impact that successful SMEs are bringing to their communities.
“While the global economy may be emerging from the pandemic, many impactful small and medium sized businesses in Africa face ongoing challenges at the same time that foreign direct investments in African are falling,” said Nimrod Gerber, Managing Partner, Vital Capital. “The Vital Impact Relief Facility was designed to give these SMEs a chance to fight through these short-term challenges and realize their visions of becoming prosperous companies benefiting African workers and communities.”
When VIRF was created in April 2020, Vital indicated it would initially launch in East Africa but is committed to expanding that focus to West Africa, including Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, and Senegal.
Vital Capital has been making targeted investments in sub-Saharan Africa since 2011, with the aim of improving the economic, personal and social well-being for people in low and middle-income communities throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Every year, Vital’s investments touch the lives of more than five million people who receive essential products or services through Vital’s portfolio companies.
Vital Capital is proud to have become a signatory to the International Finance Corporation-led Operating Principles for Impact Management. The Impact Principles are an important milestone in moving the dial forward towards greater accountability, transparency, and standardization in impact investing management practices. Vital is committed to contributing our partnership to this industrywide collaboration.
Introduced in 2019, the Operating Principles for Impact Management is a leading impact framework that provides nine principles for investors to purposefully and reliably report on their impact management systems, enabling collective industry measurement and alignment. Within a year of becoming signatories to the Impact Principles, investors must publish annual public disclosure statements demonstrating how their practices align with the Principles. These documents are independently verified at regular intervals.
“Impact-focused decision-making has always been at the core of Vital’s investments, and we strongly support the Operating Principles of Impact Management’s framework for consensus in our impact management practices.” said Head of ESG and Impact Tamar Pashtan. “We look forward to this partnership and sharing our expertise in impact investing in Sub-Saharan Africa.”
Vital Capital is a member of the GIIN, WEF, and was recently identified as an Emeritus Manager in the ImpactAssets 50, reflecting its longstanding impact investing industry leadership.
Vital manages Vital Capital Fund as well as the Vital Impact Relief Facility that was initiated to help Sub-Saharan African businesses weather the Covid-19 pandemic.
Vital Capital has been recognized as an Emeritus Manager by ImpactAssets’ IA 50 2021. Now in its 10th year, the IA 50 is the industry’s first publicly available searchable resource of impact investing fund managers. Vital was included in the category of IA 50 Emeritus Managers which specifically spotlights veteran impact fund managers.
The recognition as an Emeritus Manager reflects Vital Capital’s longstanding leadership in the impact investing industry. This is the 7th year that Vital Capital has been included to the IA 50. As the impact investing industry continues to grow rapidly, both in AUM and in number of investors, we are proud of our pioneering role and remain committed to leading the way.
Find the full IA 50 list on the ImpactAssets website.
Learn more about our smart, targeted investments here.
The Vital Impact Relief Facility (VIRF) has been recognized as one of the “30 Big Ideas Shaping ESG”, by Private Equity International. In a year when investor commitment to impact and ESG has grown and innovated in the face of the COVID-19 global hardship, the VIRF was identified as “a trailblazing fund that seeks to bridge the gap between local need and multilateral/government focus in a time of crisis” as part of the publication’s Responsible Investing supplement.
The VIRF is a $10 million emergency debt facility established to help impactful Sub-Saharan African businesses weather the economic crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. As a fast-acting fund, Vital took our responsibility as an impact investor to quickly pivot and meet the most pressing local needs. True to our impact and investment mission, we have been at the forefront of creating targeted, on-the-ground, and impactful solutions through the VIRF.
The recognition underscores our commitment to innovation, backing the businesses, entrepreneurs and ideas with the potential to create impact when and where it is needed in the region.
The Private Equity International Responsible Investing Supplement can be found here (available to PEI subscribers only).
You can find out more about the Vital Impact Relief Facility here.
Vital Capital is honored to have participated in the in the World Peace Bell Inauguration at The Palace of Justice in Luanda, Angola. The event took place on November 27, 2020, making Angola the first Southern African nation to receive a World Peace Bell.
The World Peace Bell Association was established in Japan and the first bell was built in 1954 and resides at the U.N. headquarters in New York. The World Peace Bell initiative recognizes and celebrates peace-making actions that transcend borders, cultures, and ideologies around the world.
This Peace Bell was presented to the Angolan people to commemorate their efforts in establishing peace and solidarity between peoples and nations after the civil war. These tremendous ongoing initiatives are evident in their strengthening of democracy, striving to establish a strong economy, and gaining international recognition for these achievements.
Given the challenges that the world faces today, Vital Capital believes that a meaningful quest for peace must be considered from a more comprehensive perspective – not only the absence of war – but more concretely establishing the foundations for growth and prosperity. By improving communities’ quality of life, their people can cultivate hope, and sustain lasting peace.
2020’s events of the pandemic and continued global hardship shed light on the fact that although we may come from different places and are of differing heritage, we are connected through our shared global community. And as the world recovers, rebuilds, and moves forward, we must work side-by-side towards our shared goals of peace and prosperity.
Vital Capital would like to express our sincere gratitude toward the Angolan people, to the World Peace Bell Initiative, and to the artist Guilherme Mampuya for this beautiful artwork.
Vital Capital Managing Partner, Nimrod Gerber, has been appointed to the Africa Council of EMPEA, the global industry association for private capital in emerging markets. Independent and not-for-profit, EMPEA brings together 300+ institutional investors, fund managers and industry advisors, that collectively manage more than USD 5 trillion assets across 130 countries. Its mission is to foster a vibrant and informed industry to realize sustainable growth in emerging markets through authoritative research and intelligence, investor meetings, education, and advocacy.
“The role EMPEA has to play in Africa has never been more important as the continent contends with economic fallout resulting from the global pandemic,” said Mr. Gerber.
“EMPEA is incredibly active in the promotion of private capital and creating new funding opportunities for businesses across the emerging markets. I am excited to contribute to these efforts and further its cause.”
To find out more and view the Africa Council, visit: https://www.empea.org
Vital Capital is proud to be featured in the @ImpactAssets 2020 Impact Report as an IA 50 2020 Fund Manager. The IA 50 is a publicly available, online database, featuring a diversified listing of private capital fund managers that deliver social and environmental impact as well as financial returns. You can find us on page 11-12:
Vital Capital has expanded its governance team, with three independent members, and unveiled a new decision-making structure that further strengthens impact analysis in Vital’s investment process while enhancing independence, transparency and governance.
Impact and ESG have always been critical to every investment decision that Vital makes. In the past, impact, ESG and financial considerations for each potential investment would be evaluated by a single Investment Committee. As part of Vital’s new approach, all investments are now subject to rigorous final assessment by the Investment Committee and a separate Impact Committee, which function independently of one another. Each committee has the power to veto any proposed investment. With this new approach, Vital ensures complete independence of decision-making between the two groups, while impact, ESG and financial factors are treated equally and evaluated jointly by Vital’s investment team as part of the due diligence process.
To support this new structure and to further strengthen Vital’s efforts, three new senior independent team members have been appointed to the Impact and Investment Committees. Ms. Kanini Mutooni joins as an independent Impact Committee member while Mr. Jacob Kholi joins the Investment Committee and Mr. Suleiman (Sula) Kiggundu joins the Investment Committee for the Vital Impact Relief Facility, Vital’s innovative debt vehicle focussed on helping businesses weather the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Please see below for brief introductions to Kanini, Jacob and Sula and please join us in welcoming them to the Vital team. We’re very excited to have them on-board!
Kanini Mutooni is Managing Director at Draper Richards Kaplan, a Venture Philanthropy institution focused on investing in global early stage entrepreneurs creating impact. She is also a Senior Adviser for Toniic, the global action network for impact investors with over 300 asset owners representing over $16 billion in investible wealth. Prior to this appointment, Kanini was the Director for Investment at the USAID-funded East Africa Trade and Investment Hub, a $65 million, 8-country initiative to attract investment and increase trade in the East Africa region.
Kanini is based in London, UK.
Jacob Kholi brings over 25 years of venture capital and private equity experience having worked for CDC, Aureos Capital and The Abraaj Group since 1995, based in London and in Accra. Throughout his career he was involved in several landmark private equity deals in West Africa, such as Ghana Home Loans (Pioneer property mortgage provider, later acquired by First National Bank of S.A.) and Fan Milk (leading frozen dairy and juices manufacturer, later acquired by Danone) where he served as board member.
Jacob is based in Accra, Ghana.
Suleiman Kiggundu has served in senior leadership roles at various leading institutions, including Equator Bank, HSBC Bank plc and as the Regional Director for Africa at CDC Group plc. He is currently the Chief Investment Officer at Equator Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused on microfinance, SMEs and fintech and he also chairs the CFS Group, a pan-African financial services group. In addition, he serves as a non-executive director of various companies, including I&M Bank (listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange), GA Insurance Uganda and Red Sea Energy.
Sula splits most of his time between Kenya and Uganda.
Vital Capital has launched a new collaboration with USAID’s Kenya Investment Mechanism (KIM) to support agribusinesses in Kenya affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Managed by international impact advisory and management firm, Palladium, KIM aims to unlock $400 million in investments for key sectors of Kenya’s economy, with the aim to pull small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) into competitive and growth-oriented value chains to foster broad-based, sustained, and inclusive economic growth in Kenya. COVID-19 is a particular threat to the livelihoods and food security in a nation that is already grappling with the worst locust infestation in 70 years and trying to recover from extensive flooding. Around 27% of households are suffering from food shortages, according to a recent survey by the World Bank, while in May, the Central Bank of Kenya warned that some 75% of the country’s SMEs face collapse without funding from banks or equity partners.
Under the agreement, Vital’s Impact Relief Facility and KIM will collaborate to identify potential opportunities in KIM’s pipeline that corresponds to Vital Capital’s investment mandate and to leverage KIM’s network of transaction advisors to more efficiently bring transactions to close under Vital Capital’s investment committee. Vital Capital and KIM are seeking to identify and execute at least five completed transactions, providing at least $5 million in financing, to alleviate the strain of COVID-19 on impactful Kenyan businesses, sustaining 500 jobs.
For the official announcement please follow this LINK.
