Nigerian cement producing giant, Dangote Cement raised N116 billion series 2 fixed rate senior unsecured bonds under its N300 billion multi-instrument issuance programme during the week. Other Nigerian startups also raised notable funding during the week.
Nairametrics tracks major deals consummated in the Nigerian corporate scenes with emphasis on companies that have their major operations in the country or with significant interest in Nigeria.
Below is a compilation of deals announced between the 2nd and 13th of May 2022. The information was sourced from news reports, press releases amongst other reliable sources.
Dangote Cement raised N116 billion bond issuance
Dangote Cement, Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest cement producer raised a sum of N116 billion in what was dubbed the largest corporate bond issuance in the Nigerian capital market.
The company stated that the objective of the fundraising is to finance the Company’s Nigeria expansion projects, short-term debt refinancing and working capital requirements.
Dangote Cement stated that it has completed the issuance of N116 billion series 2 fixed rate senior unsecured bonds under its N300 billion multi-instrument issuance programme.
Hello Tractor raised $1 million from Heifer Int’l
Heifer International has invested US$1 million into the Nigerian tractor-booking platform Hello Tractor. The funding will power a new programme, “Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) Tractor Financing for Increased Agricultural Productivity in Nigeria,” which has already enabled tractor purchases in the Nigerian states of Nasarawa, Abuja, and Enugu.
According to the founder and CEO of Hello Tractor, Jehiel Oliver, the partnership with Heifer would enable the company to expand its innovative financing to people who were previously considered ‘unbankable,’ while increasing access to technology that has the potential to improve the incomes of millions of smallholder farmers across Africa.
KuCoin raised $150 million to launch DeFi products in 2022
Cryptocurrency exchange, KuCoin has raised a sum of $150 million in a bid to go beyond centralized trading services and focus on Web3.
KuCoin, one of the biggest global exchanges ranking 5th on CoinMarketCap, officially announced a pre-Series B funding round, bringing the company’s valuation to $10 billion.
The funding round was led by Jump Crypto and saw the participation of multiple investment funds, including Circle Ventures, IDG Capital and Matrix Partners.
Kaltani raised $4 million to tackle plastic waste pollution
Kaltani, a Nigerian startup aimed at solving Africa’s plastic waste problem through recycling, raised $4 million in seed funding. With this funding, the company is aiming to open 20 new collection and aggregation centres across Nigeria and increase its staff strength to over 500 people.
Kaltani, founded in Nigeria by Engineer Obi Charles Nnanna, says its vision is to solve Africa’s growing plastic waste crisis by promoting the circular economy and recycling best practices.
Identitypass raised $2.8 million to drive African expansion
Identitypass has raised $2.8 million in seed funding to expand its business. The company plans to roll out new verticals around compliance, security, and data collection, push into new African countries and make new hires to its 14-man team with the new funding.
The latest funding, which is led by MaC Venture Capital, involves other investors such as Y Combinator, Soma Capital, True Capital Fund, and Sherwani Capital.
Founded by Lanre Ogungbe, Niyi Adegboye and Ebuka Obi, the two-year-old startup launched a SaaS platform in addition to its APIs. The software was built to enhance Identitypass’ growth scale and excel among its competitors in the market.
Interswitch secured $110 million funding
Digital payments company, Interswitch secured a $110 million in joint investment from LeapFrog Investments and Tana Africa Capital to scale its digital payment services across Africa.
The two investors confirmed this in a statement. Interswitch Group CEO, Mitchell Elegbe, also confirmed this, saying that the company was “excited to welcome LeapFrog and Tana on board, as we continue our work to advance the future of the African payments landscape.”
LeapFrog and Tana plan to work with management to continue to drive Interswitch’s pan-African strategy, which includes acquiring new customers and building new products to support a financial inclusion strategy.
