According to the Bank’s website, the proposed project is for IFC to commit up to US$75 million in Helios Investors V (“Helios V” or the “Fund”), with a co-investment envelope of US$50 million. Helios V is a Pan-African growth equity fund, seeking to invest in market-leading companies that enable, are enabled by, or benefit from the confluence of technological innovation and Africa’s attractive demographic and urbanization trends. The Fund is targeting to raise total commitments of US$750 million to invest in 10-12 companies, with an average ticket size of US$70-80 million (excluding co-investment amounts). The Fund’s core focus sectors are: (i) Digital Infrastructure (e.g., datacenters, fibre networks and telecom towers); (ii) Financial Services and Financial Technology (e.g., BankTech, payments, and financial management software); (iii) Tech-Enabled Business Services (e.g., cloud services, RegTech, HealthTech and LogisticsTech) and (iv) Consumer Non-Discretionary (e.g., food and beverage, healthcare, and education).

The Project has been categorized as FI-2 in accordance with the IFC’s Sustainability Policy. The proposed investment will support sectors in Digital Infrastructure, Financial Services and Financial Technologist-Enabled Business and Consumer Non-Discretionary. The main E&S risks and impacts of the Project derive from the E&S risks associated with the investment activities and the Fund Manager’s E&S capacity and implementation of the Fund’s ESMS to manage these risks. The E&S risks associated with the Fund’s investment activities are considered medium and are expected to have potential limited adverse environmental and/or social risks or impacts that are few in number, generally site specific, largely reversible, and can be readily addressed through established mitigation measures. These risks typically include life and fire safety, occupational health and safety, security, gender-based violence (GBV), waste management, and labour and working conditions, among others.

IFC’s proposed investment in the Fund is up to US$75 million, with a co-investment envelope of US$50 million.

The Fund is targeting to raise total commitments of US$750 million to invest in 10-12 companies, with an average ticket size of US$70-80 million (excluding co-investment amounts).

The Fund will be managed by Helios Investors Genpar V Ltd (“General Partner”, “GP”, or “Fund Manager”), an affiliate of Helios Investment Partners LLP (“Helios” or “Investment Adviser”). Helios was founded in 2004 by Babatunde Soyoye and Tope Lawani to focus exclusively on private investment in Africa and has over US$3 billion in Assets Under Management (AUM).

Helios Investment Partners LLP
Babatunde Soyoye
Managing Director
+44 207 484-7700
bsoyoye@heliosllp.com
2nd floor, 12 Charles II Street, St. James's, London SW1Y 4QU, United Kingdom
www.heliosinvestment.com

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