GroFin, a development financier focused on financing and supporting small and growing businesses (SGBs) across Africa and the Middle East has launched a $100 million business fund for SMEs in Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Zambia, Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Egypt with the aim of catalyzing sustainable job creation.

The Fund, which has an initial commitment of US$100 million, is expected to grow to US$150 million in two years, making it one of the largest funds specifically targeting small and growing businesses in Africa. It is a follow-on to the US$170 million GroFin Africa Fund.

In the words of the CEO GroFin, Jurie Willemse, “the fund will continue growing depending on the level of SMEs growth in the country.”

Co-created by Shell Foundation, the German development bank KfW, the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries, Norfund, and the Dutch Good Growth Fund (DGGF), this fund seeks to assist 9,800 underserved entrepreneurs and create 47,000 jobs in the next 10 years. Over the next two years, with grant funding from the German government through KfW, GroFin plans to expand the Fund’s support to SGBs to three more African countries.

The GroFin SGB Fund will adopt a flexible funding model where entrepreneurs will present their business model, which will then be evaluated to determine investment.

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