Kuramo Capital Appointed Fund Manager for Ethiopia’s $100M Enterprise Financing Facility

The company, based in Kenya with offices in Lagos and New York, will oversee the establishment and management of the $100 million blended finance facility, targeted at reshaping financial support for Ethiopia’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as innovative startups.

According to Kuramo Capital’s Co-CEO Shaka Kariuki, this is a testament to Kuramo’s innovative approach to championing commercial catalytic capital not only to East Africa but also the continent.

“Majority of our investments are actually in Kenya. However, over the last 10 years, we have been making investments in Ethiopia. This is another testament to Kuramo’s ability and innovative investing philosophy as we continue to mobilize capital not only in Kenya but across African markets,” said Mr Kariuki.

He added, “The idea is to integrate global best practices that will further promote foreign capital inflow into Ethiopia as well as set Ethiopia on a developmental path to unlock funding for SMEs and innovative startups geared towards driving economic growth.”

According to Kuramo Capital’s Managing Director, Mumo Muthengi, this is the first time trying to domicile a fund in Ethiopia.

“We are looking to finalize the set-up of the fund by the end of the first quarter of 2025 and then by the first half of the year, we should have it up and running.

The whole ecosystem in Ethiopia is extremely keen on this project. We have a lot of buy-in from the government, from UNDP, from the regulator, they want to see this succeed and they are being deliberate in driving this change so that ultimately, they can bring capital to the SME and start-up ecosystem,” said Mr. Muthengi

As the pioneering fund-of-funds for sub-Saharan Africa, Kuramo Capital has had a tremendous impact in leading catalytic capital into the Sub-Saharan African private equity ecosystem. It has served as an anchor investor in 15 first-time Indigenous private equity funds and has played a significant role in raising over $3.5 billion toward investing in sub-Saharan African companies.

At the same time, Kuramo Capital Management has received a special recognition award for investing in TransCentury PLC, an investment Holding Company, with a focus on infrastructure (energy, transport, water and agriculture) at this year’s Private Equity Africa awards held in London, United Kingdom.

“We are fortunate at Kuramo that our investment teams are based on the ground. We have exposure to robust opportunities to look at in the pipeline daily which allows us to narrow down to companies that fit our investment criteria. It is through these criteria that we invested in TransCentury,” said Mr. Kariuki.

The Fund of Funds Investor Award was also given to Kuramo for their USD 150M investment into 2X Ignite Africa Investment Facility for Warehousing Capital and Moremi Accelerator Program, an initiative to empower the next generation of African women enterprises and promote gender-equitable fund management.

Mr. Kariuki said: “At Kuramo we are sensitive to the fact that Private Equity, not only in Africa but globally, lacks gender diversity when it comes to women running private equity firms. Moremi and 2X are initiatives by Kuramo to bridge this gap. Moremi is an impact fund and a gender lens fund where it will invest in other women-led private equity funds and women-owned businesses.”

Kuramo has direct and indirect investments in 200 companies in 30 sub-Saharan African countries including Kenya and Nigeria.

They have invested in various sectors including Fast-Moving Consumer Goods, Infrastructure-Power, Agribusiness, Technology, and Financial Services.

About Kuramo Capital Management, LLC

Kuramo Capital Management is an independent investment management firm founded in 2010, championing private commercial capital in Africa.

We provide targeted global investment management services to institutional clients and ultra-high net worth individuals, focused on alternative assets in emerging and frontier markets.

In almost 15 years, Kuramo has redefined the landscape of private equity in Africa, with over $500 million under management. Kuramo has helped catalyze over $3.5 billion to African private equity firms and businesses. We are the leading conduit for private institutional capital into Africa.