Adenia closes Africa Entrepreneurial Fund at $180 million. The Mauritius-based private equity firm hit the hard cap for its first fund for African mid-sized businesses. International Finance Corp. anchored the Entrepreneurial Fund with $30 million, and was joined by the African Development Bank and other development finance institutions, as well as undisclosed European family offices, multi-regional fund-of-funds and African pension funds.
Adenia will make equity investments in businesses in light industry, consumer goods and services, renewable energy, and other sectors with strong job creation potential. Adenia is going downmarket from the types of businesses targeted for its other funds.
“In essence, we are going back to our roots,” Adenia’s Mack Schow told ImpactAlpha. “There aren’t many African fund managers active in the small business space that can call upon a successful track-record across multiple vintages, with deal-makers based on the ground across most of the major African economies.”
The firm said it reached its fundraising goal less than a year after starting fundraising. The IFC also pledged $20 million for co-investments.
Growth pipeline
The Entrepreneurial Fund’s investments of $10 million to $20 million are small by Adenia’s standards but larger than many African businesses can absorb (see, “More of the right kind of capital for growth firms in Africa“). Its first investment is in 40-year old, female-run bakery Maymana in Morocco.
With the Entrepreneurial Fund’s close, Adenia has surpassed $1 billion raised across its portfolio of funds. It closed its fifth fund in 2024 at $470 million; that fund writes checks of $30 million to $50 million, generally for a majority ownership stake. Adenia Capital V was backed by about 30 investors, including Blue Earth Capital, Casey Family Programs, South Africa’s Public Investment Corp., pension funds from Kenya and Ghana, as well as several European family offices and development finance institutions.
