Follow Us on Google
A sister organisation of the World Bank and member of the World Bank Group, International Finance Corporation (IFC) is investing $10 million in CardinalStone Capital Advisers Growth Fund (CCAGF), a private equity fund launched and managed by CardinalStone Capital Advisers (CCA) – an investment management firm – to aid access to funds for Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria and Ghana.
The Co-Founder and Managing Director of CardinalStone Capital Advisers, Yomi Jemibewon, who disclosed this to the media in Lagos recently, said:
“This funding represents a significant step towards catalysing growth in small and medium enterprises in Nigeria and Ghana. We look forward to working with the IFC, as a partner in this fund, as we strive to continuously bring best practices in operating standards to our investments and investee companies.”
The investment, Daily Sun gathered, is part of the IFC SME Ventures program that supports high-growth entrepreneurs in frontier markets by investing in funds that provide risk capital. The program also offers technical assistance on a range of issues, from management skills to accounting, to building a more sustainable environment for SMEs. SME Ventures funds have financed over 100 SMEs which have created over 6,000 direct jobs, many more indirect jobs, and generated tax revenues for governments.
“SMEs account for 96 per cent of businesses in Nigeria and 85 per cent of the private sector in Ghana. The growing middle class in both presents an opportunity for SMEs to scale up. However, access to long-term capital remains a challenge. CCAGF will seek to support SME growth opportunities by providing long-term capital as well as operational expertise to ensure business sustainability,” Jemibewon added.
According to the IFC Senior Director for Disruptive Technology and Funds, William Sonneborn, “IFC’s investment in CardinalStone will spur growth of SMEs and facilitate much-needed job creation, while creating the ecosystem for a more robust local private equity and mezzanine financing market. By supporting SMEs in fast-growing markets, we hope to bring best practices that raise the bar for operational improvements and environmental and governance standards across the investee companies.”
