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A global consultancy firm, Palladium, has offered $40 million in grant to Nigerian female entrepreneurs in a bid to bridge the financing gap for small businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The fund, called “Palladium Impact Fund I”, is targeted at 60 per cent of women in Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya whose businesses revolve around agribusiness and off-grid clean energy. It intends to create 3,500 full-time jobs while economically empowering 500,000 rural households.
The Fund will be supervised by Palladium which is investing $5million of its capital into the projects. Other investors are expected to include foundations, family offices, pension funds, and institutional investors. Palladium will utilise the additional $5 million to strictly make investments of between $250,000 and $2 million into small companies.
Head of Impact Investments at Palladium, Andrew Tillery, explained that the firm’s decision to focus on women, this time, was because women participate more in agricultural activities.
His words: “Fifty-four years of experience has taught Palladium that for an investment to have an impact, it has to be sustainable, which means it needs to generate a financial return. For this first fund, we have chosen to invest in empowering African women, as women perform most agricultural activities, own a third of all firms and are key to the welfare of their families. Gender equality and empowerment in the region can raise productive potential and boost the continent’s development.
“Solar and clean energy technology is hugely important particularly in rural Africa as it provides vital electricity to households. The social benefits are significant. For instance, 24-hour lighting enables more effective infant care and in turn, can lower the infant mortality rate. It’s also the catalyst for the development of small, growing businesses as the working day is longer and more productive. Clean energy can power enabling technology, such as irrigation for farmers, to mitigate many of the risks associated with primary production like adverse weather conditions.”
According to the Chief Executive of the firm, Christopher Hirst, the Fund hopes to help beneficiaries make impact in business.
