Goodwell West Africa announced today that it has received commitments from KfW, Euro 8 million (R75 mil) and the NMI Frontier Fund, Euro 1.6 million (R15 mil). This private equity company will invest in microfinance in Ghana and Nigeria. Goodwell West Africa has now completed its second closing at Euro 16 million.
In Ghana and Nigeria, a large share of the population is financially excluded or not served by formal or high-quality financial service providers. The financial infrastructure to reach these groups is lacking or inadequate in both countries.
The objective of Goodwell West Africa is to build this financial infrastructure by investing in a variety of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Ghana and Nigeria. The company will invest primarily in established MFIs with potential for high growth and transformation, as well as in emerging and early-stage MFIs that need financial and professional support to develop and grow rapidly.
Goodwell West Africa’s strategy is to provide a combination of growth capital, on the ground support to local MFI management teams, and access to the expertise and a global network of experienced microfinance practitioners. The company is managed by a partnership of investment managers including Goodwell Investments BV, Alitheia Capital and JCS Investments, based in the Netherlands, Nigeria and Ghana, respectively.
Karl-Heinz Fleischhacker, Head of Division, Financial and Private Sector Sub-Saharan Africa of KfW Development Bank: “With Goodwell West Africa MDC, we are happy to conclude our first investment under the Microfinance Initiative for Sub-Saharan Africa II, an initiative which aims at strengthening Sub-Saharan microfinance networks. For us, the partnership between Goodwell Investments BV and the local managers Alitheia Capital and JCS Investments is a strong value added. For German bilateral Financial Cooperation, both Ghana and Nigeria are focal countries for financial sector development and offer the potential to significantly increase access to finance for the economically active poor.”
“We are pleased to make this investment in Goodwell West Africa and to be working closely with Goodwell in Nigeria and Ghana. These two countries are Focus Countries for the NMI Frontier Fund, and we believe that both markets have significant potential. We are also particularly pleased to be able to support the local management teams in Ghana and Nigeria and to thus help build local capacity for making microfinance investments.” commented Richard Weingarten, Managing Director of NMI.
“Nigeria and Ghana are dynamic markets offering a wide range of opportunities for developing microfinance. We are delighted that KfW and NMI have recognised this and have given us the mandate to put their money to work to deepen the financial sector in West Africa. We are pleased to welcome these leading microfinance investors on board, and we are confident that this will inspire other professional investors to join our investor group as we expand the fund in the next year.” said Els Boerhof, Partner Goodwell Investments.
