Small and Media Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in West Africa are in for good times as CDC Group has announced the investment of up to $39.2 million in the region.
CDC Group, which is a publicly-owned impact investor in the United Kingdom, is working in partnership with two West African-based private equity funds targeted at SMEs – Verod Fund III and Adiwale Fund I.
A statement by CDC Group, as seen by Nairametrics, noted that SMEs in West Africa often find it difficult to raise capital. As a result, this adversely affects them by limiting their growth potentials.
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Recognising this challenge, CDC Group decided that part of its core strategies in West Africa will be to provide support to already existing, well-networked private equities in the region. CDC Group does this with the intention of encouraging long-term sustainable employment in West Africa, particularly for the semi-skilled and low-skilled. This ultimately facilitates the actualisation of Sustainable Development Goal 8, which is all about creating decent jobs and ensuring economic growth.
Commenting on this development, CEO of CDC Group, Nick O’Donohoe, said that SMEs across West Africa should be availed access to finance in order to encourage them to boost the economies in the region.
“In West Africa SMEs should be the engine room of regional economies but they are being held back by the lack of access to finance. As the largest private equity investor in Africa, CDC is committed to boosting access to finance for these businesses.
“Investing in SMEs enables our capital to go further and we expect that positive returns will generate an important demonstration effect and help mobilise further capital into these markets, encouraging more commitments towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.”
You may read the full press released by clicking here.
