Investor Profile: AfricInvest — Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

AfricInvest is a pan-African investment platform based in Tunis, Tunisia, and founded in 1994. It invests across private equity, venture capital, private credit, blended finance and listed equities, and it is unusual among the investors in this batch because its backing includes development finance institutions alongside private and institutional investors.

Thesis

AfricInvest backs companies that can grow regionally and continentally, with an emphasis on productivity growth, job creation and inclusive and sustainable development alongside financial returns. Its venture arm looks for highly scalable, ambitious technology companies improving African lives through disruptive, tech-enabled products and services, while its wider platform backs established businesses in sectors such as financial services, agribusiness, consumer goods, retail, education and healthcare.

Sectors/stages

The platform covers multiple stages, from early and growth-stage venture through small-cap, mid-cap and large-cap private equity. Its venture focus is primarily Series A and Series B technology companies, while its financial-inclusion and SME vehicles reach earlier and smaller businesses. Sector coverage is broad, including financial services and fintech, healthcare, education, agribusiness, consumer and retail, logistics and industrial services.

Fund size/cheque size

AfricInvest reports EUR 2.3 billion in assets under management, more than 220 investments across over 30 countries in Africa and France, and a team of 115 professionals operating from 10 offices, including 8 in Africa. Its venture vehicle, the Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund, is a joint venture with Cathay Innovation; its first fund is a EUR 110 million vehicle launched in 2019 that invests primarily in Series A and B startups. Individual cheque sizes for that fund were not stated in the sources read, so they are recorded here as not publicly disclosed.

Portfolio

Portfolio names confirmed in AfricInvest's own releases include PayTic, a Moroccan fintech in which the Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund led a seed extension, and Kredete, a Nigerian fintech whose Series A AfricInvest led. Its wider fund portfolio, as listed by Finnfund for AfricInvest Fund IV, includes Fidelity Bank in Ghana, M-Kopa, I&M Group, Justrite in Nigeria and AutoXPres in East Africa. Its French-African arm has also backed Tecofi Group, a French industrial-valve maker, through Fonds Franco-Africain 2, showing how the platform bridges French SMEs expanding into Africa and African companies scaling outwards.

Partners/programmes

Aziz Mebarek is co-founder and managing partner of AfricInvest and has spoken publicly for the Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund partnership. At AfricInvest Europe, Stéphane Colin and Khaled Ben Jennet are partners and have commented on the Tecofi investment. The firm's French-African funds, managed by AfricInvest Europe since 2017, invest in French SMEs with an existing or potential development project in Africa and count 19 portfolio companies to date.

How to apply for funding from AfricInvest

AfricInvest does not advertise an open online pitch portal in the sources read, so founders should approach through the contact route on the official AfricInvest website and target the right vehicle: venture-stage technology companies should frame their approach around the Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund and its Series A and B focus, while SMEs and mid-sized companies should look at its pan-African and regional funds. Official AfricInvest releases list Ann Wyman for investor engagement, which is the published contact route for further information.