Africa The Big Deal (FMO-65805)

Regions
  • Africa
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
U
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."
Voting Date
Nov 27, 2025
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Africa: The Big Deal (ATBD)
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Communications
  • Industry and Trade
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 0.05 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.
Currency conversion note:
Bank reported 0.04
Converted using 2025-11-27 exchange rate.
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ FMO website

Updated in EWS May 12, 2026

Disclosed by Bank Dec 24, 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 initiative aims to strengthen the African startup ecosystem by providing access to fundraising data and training that help startups navigate investor networks and develop effective fundraising strategies. It also contributes to ecosystem-wide transparency through support for a recognized platform that promotes openness and thought leadership in African VC markets.

Support of this project ensures equitable access to strategic data for founders. This project is strategically aligned with the European Commission TA Facility and the community engagement pillar in particular, which explicitly highlights support for VC data initiatives as an activity that strengthens ecosystems and contributes to thought leadership. VC data initiatives sit at the very heart of venture ecosystems: without reliable funding data, the ecosystem becomes a "blind box," making it impossible to track growth, identify gaps, and build confidence among investors, policymakers, and founders.

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

Total FMO financing: EUR 0.04 MLN
Funding: FMO NV

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.

Africa: The Big Deal (ATBD) is a recognized independent platform established in 2019 that collects, verifies, and publishes venture capital (VC) data on African startups. Its database is the most comprehensive and up-to-date source of African VC funding information, covering deal flow across geographies, sectors, and investor types.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - Africa: The Big Deal Client -

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.

https://africathebigdeal.com/

No contacts available at the time of disclosure.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

As part of FMO's ex-ante disclosure (disclosure of transactions before contracting), you can send requests or questions for additional information to: disclosure@fmo.nl

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF FMO

Communities who believe they will be negatively affected by a project funded by the Dutch Development Bank (FMO) may be able to file a complaint with the Independent Complaints Mechanism, which is the joint independent accountability mechanism of the Dutch Development Bank (FMO) and the German Investment Corporation (KfW). A complaint can be filed in writing, by email, post, or online. The complaint can be filed in English or any other language of the complainant. The Independent Complaints Mechanism is comprised of a three-member Independent Expert Panel and it can provide either problem-solving, compliance review or both, in either order. Additional information about this accountability mechanism, including a guide and template for filing a complaint, can be found at: https://www.fmo.nl/independent-complaints-mechanism

How it works

How it works