Impact Investing News
- Aureos Africa Health Fund invests $2.5m in Kenya healthcare 21 November 2011
Aureos Africa Health Fund invested $2.5 million in a Kenyan hospital and health insurance company, the Avenue Group (www.avenuehealthcare.com), which offers affordable healthcare cover, integrated with quality healthcare provision. It has a 70-bed full-purpose hospital in Nairobi, 7 clinics through Kenya as well as in-house clinics for corporate clients, a home-based care service for elderly, terminally ill or otherwise dependent patients, rental and sale of wheelchairs and other rehabilitation equipment for home use, and First Aid training schemes.
It combines healthcare cover with quality, affordable outpatient and inpatient medical services. The group’s corporate medical schemes are designed to be accessible to businesses with as few as 10 employees and around 70% of the staff covered are in non-managerial roles. With Aureos investment, Avenue Group will expand into other regions in Kenya, building 2 more clinics in smaller towns and expanding existing in-patient facilities in Kisumu and Mombasa. The funding will ensure the group can continue non-profit activities, such as free medical camps across Kenya and public health screening days at Avenue clinics.
Africa Health Fund is managed by private equity manager Aureos Capital Ltd (www.aureos.com), which specialises in socially sustainable small to medium-sized businesses in emerging markets. It has more than 20 local offices covering more than 50 markets. It has expertise in healthcare, with investments in hospitals and medical supply companies across Asia, Latin America and Africa. It builds environmental, social and governance performance into its investments as an integral part of managing risk and generating returns, particularly in Africa where managing employees’ health is a major challenge for many of Aureos’ portfolio companies.
Africa Health Fund was established by Aureos in June 2009 with the International Finance Corporation (www.ifc.org), the African Development Bank (www.afdb.org), DEG, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (www.gatesfoundation.org) as cornerstone investors. Subsequent investors include the Elma Foundation (www.elmaphilanthropies.org) along with private investors such as family offices and a major European retail bank. Committed capital in the fund now totals $75.4m. The fund aims to help low-income Africans access affordable, high-quality health services while providing investors with good long-term financial returns. It has invested in hospitals in Kenya and Ghana.
Shakir Merali, Partner at Aureos Africa Healthcare Managers Limited in Kenya, says: “Avenue has developed strong links with the Kenyan business community that are helping to bring health cover to a wider range of workers, even those who work in smaller firms. We are looking forward to helping the Group to pursue its plans for growth and to extend its successful model and high quality care, initially within Kenya, and eventually in neighbouring East African countries.”
Diana Patel, Executive Director at The Avenue Group, comments: “We are very pleased to be working with an investor with such extensive experience of the medical sector. The support from Aureos’ strong local team will be crucial in helping us to achieve our ambitions to make affordable health cover a reality across the whole of East Africa.”
Aureos was set up in 2001and has increased funds under management to US$ 1.3 billion with a footprint in over 50 emerging markets covering Asia, Africa and Latin America, by establishing 17 regional private equity funds. - InReturn Capital invests in Kenya's Eagle Eye Laser Centre 3 November 2011
East African venture capital firm InReturn Capital (www.inreturncapital.com) has entered a partnership with Hurlingham Eye Care Services group (HECS – hurlinghameyecare.co.ke), according to a press release issued on 2 November. InReturn Capital is an impact investing company which aims to generate positive social impact and profits by investing in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the East African region, from its offices in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. It has Jacana Venture Partnership (www.jacana.org) as an investor and key partner in fund management, and several Dutch and international partners.
HECS has been operating optical shops and a diagnostics centre around Nairobi since 2000 and in April 2010 opened the Eagle Eye Laser and Diagnostics Centre at the 5th Avenue Building on Ngong Road, close to the Nairobi Hospital. This aims to be a leading provider of eye-care surgery and diagnostics in East Africa, particularly long-term eye problems. The centre is the first clinic in East Africa to offer Lasik surgery, which is the most advanced type of laser surgery for vision correction. Other eye surgeries include cataract, glaucoma, multifocal refractive surgery, as well as a broad variety of eye diagnostics using modern technology. The founders, Dr. Ilako, Dr. Kimani and Dr. Kiumbura, all have a long track record in eye surgery and have teamed up with Dr. Gaeckle, one of the most successful and experienced eye laser surgeons in Germany.
InReturn already has investments in construction, infrastructure and energy and is keen to expand into healthcare. It linked with HECS in July 2011. It provides hands-on support to HECS in strategic focus, human resource management and marketing and financial administration processes, as well as joining weekly management meetings and being a member of the board. Its investment in the surgery centre will assist in expanding and improving operational capabilities while the centre prepares to expand within the region. The plan is also to set up a non-profit unit that will provide free eye-care health services such as free surgeries and consultations to the lowest income groups.
Dr. Kiumbura, CEO and co-founder of HECS commented: “There is a saying in my language that two are always better than one. The partnership with InReturn has just proven this to be true one more time! It has been a time of improvement in the organisation, from personal growth to organizational transformation, and to a more efficient and focused entity from the time we started working together. I have no doubt in my mind that together we will grow to unchartered heights in provision of quality affordable eye-care in this region in the coming years.”
Eelco Benink, Investment Manager of InReturn commented: “We are excited to invest in this state-of-the-art eye-care institute in Kenya. The doctors are amongst the best in their field and the technology available at the Eagle Eye Laser Centre is unparalleled in East Africa. Together with the optical shops it forms the only one stop shop for eye health care in greater East Africa. Our partnership will lead to further expansion of the HECS group, and it will contribute to the growth of quality medical industry in the region.”
Other InReturn investments include Vipingo Stone, Equator Shipping on Lake Victoria and an engineering company developing micro hydropowerplants. - OPIC invests $285m in 6 impact investing funds 31 October 2011
The Directors of the U.S. Government’s development finance institution, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (www.opic.gov), decided on 27 October to provide financing up to $285 million to equity funds. These in turn should raise more than $875m, representing the largest commitment by the U.S. Government to impact investing in emerging markets so far.
“Impact investing” usually means private investing looking for investments that deliver social and environmental benefits while generating profits, and is a very fast-growing area of investment. OPIC called for impact investing proposals in March and received 88 applications from which it picked 6 funds. According to a OPIC press release, the response was “so positive that OPIC expects to announce additional approved facilities in 2012.”
OPIC President and CEO Elizabeth Littlefield commented in the press release: “This is a watershed day in the evolution of impact investing. These new funds, and the additional investment facilities we announce in 2012, will help to fill financing gaps and introduce more innovation into the impact investing space, helping it grow and mature.”
The 6 funds are:
Investment Fund for Health in Africa II (IFHA II): A private equity fund investing in companies that improve health for Africans with low and middle incomes. It expects to target investments in companies that operate in small and medium-sized hospitals and clinics, healthcare products import, distribution and manufacturing, insurance and supporting industries such as water and sanitation, food and nutrition, education and environmental services. The fund manager is Africa Health Systems Management Company B.V. The International Finance Corporation in 2007 invested in the Netherlands-based IFHA I. OPIC: $83m, target capitalization: $250m.
ManoCap: This fund will invest in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Sierra Leone, Liberia and other West African countries, with a focus on post-conflict nations. It will invest in sectors including agriculture, agro-processing, sustainable fisheries, services, healthcare, sanitation, construction and building materials, tourism, light manufacturing, and financial services. These SMEs are expected to have a direct effect on the standard of living of “base-of-the-pyramid” communities by providing employment and access to goods and services. Fund manager is ManoCap LLC. OPIC: $34m, target: $100m.
Latin Idea: Growth capital to Mexican SMEs within the technology, media, telecomms and services sectors. Fund manager Latin Idea Ventures III LLC. OPIC: $25m, target: $125m.
MPOWER Ventures: Unbanked and the under-banked populations in emerging markets through providing prepaid debit cards (or GPR cards), and related alternative financial services, starting with Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. Fund manager MPOWER Ventures III L.P.,OPIC: $15m, target: $50m.
Sarona: Fund-of-funds will invest in 12-18 private equity funds that target market-based returns while investing in SMEs in frontier markets. Fund manager Sarona Asset Management, Inc. OPIC: $87.5m, target: $250m
Terra Bella: Private equity fund will invest in projects that generate carbon credits through protecting and enhancing forests while generating valuable social and environment co-benefits. Terra Bella will generate returns through the sale of carbon on the growing voluntary, compliance and pre-compliance markets that are emerging in the forest and land-use carbon sector. Fund manager Terra Global Investment Management LLC. OPIC: $40m, target: $100m.
According to Ms. Littlefield: “Each of them promises a strong development impact —be it mobile banking for the unbanked, investing in small businesses in the post-conflict countries of Liberia and Sierra Leone, improved health care in Africa, preservation of highly vulnerable forests, or growing small businesses in Mexico. OPIC has a long history of investing for both social and financial returns and we believe impact investing will gain significant traction in the coming years. We are proud to support its development.” - UK’s regulator FSA warns on unregistered “ethical” tree investment schemes 28 October 2011
The UK’s regulator, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), has issued a warning on its website about unregulated “sustainable, ethical and alternative” investments. It says: “We are seeing an increasing number of overseas schemes that offer investment opportunities in tree and crop plots abroad, and other ethical investments.
“These schemes may be promoted by an operator ‘cold calling’ with an offer for you to buy a plot on a plantation which harvests agricultural commodities such as teak trees, jatropha, paulownia and biofuels. The investment is usually stated to be low risk but promising high, often guaranteed returns of around 15-25%. The investment period is typically about five years, after which your plot will be harvested and sold on your behalf and the profits forwarded to you.”
They note that some of the schemes being offered to UK investors are structured so they do not meet requirements and therefore then do not have to be registered. However, UK investors should know that the schemes are not covered and they will not be protected by complaints procedures or compensation if things go wrong.
According to the FSA: “We have heard reports of promoters using aggressive, high-pressure sales tactics, and often claiming we do not need to authorise the schemes, as they are not collective investment schemes (CIS). While we regulate CIS, we do not regulate the sale of land, trees or crops.”
The FSA (www.fsa.gov.uk) has been investigating and says that some tree and crop schemes seem to be structured to avoid CIS rules. In simplistic terms, a CIS would be involved if the investors do not have day-to-day control over managing their plot, where investors’ funds are pooled or where the operator is responsible for managing the scheme as a whole.
The regulator wonders how investors do have day-to-day control over business performance, when the plot is thousands of miles away. According to the FSA “We are continuing to look into several schemes to establish whether they are CIS, but we suggest investors treat such opportunities with caution.” It advises that if you think a scheme is suitable for you and you are aware that you may not be protected, you should consult an independent financial adviser or lawyer. It also offers a consumer helpline.
The FSA issued an earlier warning in July 2010 about the rise of unregulated CIS and says: “sustainable, ethical and alternative investment opportunities are increasingly being offered to investors without the protection of UK complaints procedures or compensation schemes if things go wrong.”
COMMENT: This blog supports sustainable, ethical investment 110% and strongly believes individuals have the right to choose what to do with their money and to follow their beliefs. But they need to be aware of the risks, to understand what they are investing in, and to be aware that social business can sometimes be harder to make succeed. - Casablanca Stock Exchange grants to encourage SMEs 25 August 2011
Morocco’s Casablanca Stock Exchange (www.casablanca-bourse.com) is offering grants to small and medium enterprises to encourage them to raise capital. It is offering up to 500,000 MAD (approximately $63,740 at current exchange rate for Moroccan Dirhams) from 1 July 2011 to 31 December 2012. According to an announcement on the bourse’s website, the offer is because of important role played by SMEs in the development of the Moroccan economy.
The grant is given under certain conditions and the SME must be listed on the stock exchange’s Growth or Development boards and have equity of less than 50 million MAD. It also needs to issue at least 20% of its capital and to use the IPO to raise capital. Normally the cost of an IPO is 2.2%-5% of the capital raised and the stock exchange says this can be a barrier to raising more capital.First listing for 2011
STROC Industrie S.A. (www.stroc.com) on 30 June became the first new listing on the Casablanca Stock Exchange in 2011. The company had planned to offer 288,515 extra shares at MAD357.00 each, raising a total of MAD 102,999,855 ($13 mn), with the offer dates from 20-22 June. However the offer attracted 7,229 bids for a total of 2,515,369 shares, 8.7 times oversubscribed, and was closed on 21 June.
STROC joins the “Engineering and Industrial Equipment” sector. Société de Travaux de Réalisations d’Ouvrages et de Construction Industrielle was founded in 1989. Al Istimrar Holdings has 57.7% of the shares and Nabil Ziatt a further 14.6% while the free float on the stock exchange is 23.1%. The company said it chose to raise capital for its development through the capital market as part of its strategy to be open and transparent to its customers and the financial community. It will use the capital to expand its plant and equipment and build a new headquarters.