What’s on Goodwell’s radar? - Nov 2024 edition

Moniepoint becomes Africa’s newest unicorn 

While Goodwell isn’t necessarily chasing unicorns (companies valued at over USD 1 billion), we all dream of being involved in such a success, especially when it’s correlated with social impact. It was an inspiring stamp of approval on our belief in a “patient capital” approach, therefore, when Nigerian fintech startup, Moniepoint, announced their unicorn status in late October. The first African company to achieve this valuation in 20 months, Moniepoint has been steadily raising capital over multiple funding rounds, showing that paced and steady can still win the race. Our team are avid readers of The Big Deal newsletter on Substack, who provided a fascinating look at Africa’s unicorns and where Moniepoint fits in the overall unicorn landscape. 

AfDB funds establishment of Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Bank (YEIB) in Nigeria

In exciting news for young Nigerian entrepreneurs, the African Development Bank (AfDB) has allocated $100 million to support youth- and women-led small and medium enterprises. The YEIB initiative aims to provide patient capital and ecosystem support to build sustainable, gender-inclusive businesses, directly creating over 160,000 jobs and fostering local talent.

Dealing with exit overhang

On the other side of the coin, the investment industry is currently dealing with an “exit overhang”. With over half of companies listed globally in buyout portfolios sitting unsold, investors like Goodwell are carefully crafting conscious exit strategies to account for market interest. Bain & Company examined the exit overhang in closer detail and had some interesting insights to share: “It’s more important than ever to position longer-held portfolio companies so they can run hard through the finish line. That means developing a fresh plan for maintaining business momentum today while clearly defining the “next thing” strategically and putting some early points on the board.”

NAB calls for increased impact investment to meet 2025 targets

A recent report by the Netherlands Advisory Board on impact investing (known as the NAB) sounded the alarm on the allocation of impact-related investments within the country. Their 2022 report had called on Dutch pension funds, banks, insurance companies, and asset managers to earmark at least 10% of their assets under management (AUM) to impact investing by 2025. While impact investments have indeed increased, the rate at which they are being made is not enough to meet that 10% target. The wider Dutch investment community needs to urgently answer this call; we are well placed to meaningfully contribute towards the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, but we need to back up this potential with real action.

Indigenous knowledge at SOCAP24

In October, Goodwell attended the SOCAP Investment Conference in San Francisco, participating in one of the world’s largest gatherings for the impact ecosystem. One of the talking points that really stood out was the significant increased interest in learning from indigenous knowledge, especially related to environmental stewardship and sustainable development. Nico Blaauw; ‘While Socap offers inspiring deep dives in key developments in the impact space, relationship-building is even more important for us as a cornerstone for driving impact investing into the mainstream. As so many people are there looking to collaborate in one way or another, the conference provides an excellent stage on fostering meaningful connections.’

A fintech wish list

Goodwell views fintech like our first love – as financial inclusion was the sector that initially got us into impact investing. Fintech is a powerful tool for financial and economic inclusion, but it’s also a crowded market. With so many competing voices, we found this Techpoint Africa interview with four fintech investors really interesting; it’s fascinating to read about the directions they hope the sector in Africa may go, highlighting possible trends from embedded finance to cross-border payments.

Keeping an eye on global developments

Obviously, geo-political events have not escaped our attention. Especially the recent US elections outcome is expected to have an effect on the impact investment space. It is very early to tell exactly how the shifting political balance will impact our portfolio, the inclusive economy and wider impact investment eco-system, and, ultimately, the African economy. We’ll be watching closely and keeping you informed.