Verdant Capital: Best FinTech Capital Raising Team Africa 2022

Established in 2013, Verdant Capital levers extensive investment experience and deep relationships to fuel pan-African fintech development. It stays in close contact with investors and entrepreneurs via offices in Mauritius, South Africa, Ghana, Zimbabwe, the Congo and Germany. Verdant Capital handled the second-largest deal in Nigeria’s electronic payments sector in 2021: the sale of Baxi, one of the country’s largest digital payment networks, to MFS Africa, which simplifies cross-border payments through an integrated hub. In 2021, it advised Zeepay, a Ghanian mobile financial services business, on an $8m series-A capital raise and the acquisition of Mangwee Zambia. In August 2022 it raised a further $10m for Zeepay in debt funding. The firm helped WIOCC, a leading wholesale telecoms company, to raise funds to develop an interconnected pan-African network of open-access, carrier-neutral datacentres. The lead investor was from Nigeria, attracted by WIOCC’s expansion into the country. Verdant Capital helped Tugende with debt and mezzanine funding to expand its asset finance business in East Africa and helped Planet42 grow its rent-to-own car business for the underbanked. In 2022, in addition to advising clients in its investment banking business, Verdant Capital invested in fintechs through its own funds, the Verdant Capital Specialist Funds business. These included Watu Uganda and Pezesha. In the future, Verdant Capital Specialist Funds expects significant growth. Verdant Capital is IMAP partner firm for its region; IMAP or the International M&A Partnership ranks in the top 10 in the global league tables for middle market M&A. The CFI.co judging panel presents Verdant Capital — a repeat programme winner — with the 2022 award for Best FinTech Capital Raising Team (Africa).