ISC-Catalyst III (IFC-51092)

Regions
  • Africa
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Egypt
  • Kenya
  • Mali
  • Morocco
  • Nigeria
  • Senegal
  • South Africa
  • Tanzania
  • Uganda
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • International Finance Corporation (IFC)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Proposed
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
B
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Borrower
Catalyst Fund Resilience I, L.P.
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Finance
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Equity
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 4.50 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 40.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS Nov 23, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Oct 6, 2025

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the Bank’s website, the proposed investment is an equity transaction of up to $6M ($4.5M Own Account in the senior tranche, $1.5M WeFi blended finance in the philanthropic tranche) in Catalyst Fund (the “Fund”, “Catalyst III”), a venture capital (VC) fund with a target size of $40M providing investments and venture building services to early-stage tech companies across Africa. The Fund will invest with a focus on three sectors: Fintech for climate resilience, Sustainable livelihoods, and Climate-smart essential services. The Fund's geographic distribution includes investments in Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, Tanzania, South Africa, Morocco, Senegal, Mali and Uganda. The Fund will be managed by Catalyst Impact Partners Corp (the “Fund Manager”). The project is expected to be supported by Women’s Entrepreneur Finance Initiative (We-Fi) as described in the Blended Finance Section.                                                  

Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

The proposed Project consists of an equity investment of up to US$6 million in Catalyst Fund. The Fund will primarily invest in early-stage climate-focused ventures across Africa. The E&S risks and impacts inherent in the fund’s investment activities are expected to be low to medium. As such, the Project has been categorized as FI-2 in accordance with IFC’s Sustainability Framework. 

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

IFC has proposed an equity investment of up to US$4.5M own account (not to exceed 20% of total commitments) into the senior tranche of the Fund through the IFC Startup Catalyst Platform. Additionally, We-Fi blended finance is expected to invest up to US$1.5 million into the philanthropic tranche.

The fund has a target size of $40M.

Financial Intermediary
A financial intermediary is a bank or financial institution that receives funds from a development bank. A financial intermediary then lends these funds to their clients (private actors) in the form of loans, bonds, guarantees and equity shares. Financial intermediaries include insurance, pension and equity funds. The direct financial relationship is between the development bank and the financial intermediary.
Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

The Fund is domiciled in Delaware, US, and managed by Catalyst Impact Partners Corp (the “Fund Manager”). The team currently consists of 3 partners: Maelis Carraro (Founder, GP), Maxime Bayen (Operating Partner, GP) and and Amolo Ng’weno (General Partner and CEO of BFA Global).


Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

Catalyst Fund
Maelis Carraro
Managing Partner
+33 07 82 11 52 83
maelis@thecatalystfund.com
Riverside Green Suites, Acacia Suite, Fl 2, Nairobi, Kenya
https://www.thecatalystfund.com/

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit a request for information disclosure at: https://disclosures.ifc.org/#/inquiries

If you believe that your request for information from IFC has been unreasonably denied, or that this Policy has been interpreted incorrectly, you can submit a complaint at the link above to IFC's Access to Information Policy Advisor, who reports directly to IFC's Executive Vice President.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IFC/MIGA

The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an IFC or MIGA- financed project. If you submit a complaint to the CAO, they may assist you in resolving a dispute with the company and/or investigate to assess whether the IFC is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. If you want to submit a complaint electronically, you can email the CAO at CAO@worldbankgroup.org You can learn more about the CAO and how to file a complaint at http://www.cao-ombudsman.org

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How it works