Onafriq Debt (IFC-48348)

Regions
  • Africa
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
C
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
Jun 18, 2024
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
Onafriq Mauritius Limited
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)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 50.00 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 Jul 26, 2024

Disclosed by Bank May 14, 2024

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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 project consists of a US$-denominated senior secured debt package of up to US$50 million to Onafriq Mauritius Limited (the “Company”), a financial technology (fintech) company, to finance part of its permanent working capital (the “Project”).                                                  

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.

This is a Category C Project according to IFC’s Policy on Environmental and Social (E&S) Sustainability, as IFC’s E&S due diligence indicates that the Project involves a low level of E&S risks. The Company uses leased and sublet offices to conduct its business.

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

 IFC’s proposed investment consists of an A Loan and B1 Loan Participations for up to US$50 million.

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 Company is a pan-African payment aggregator that provides the IT infrastructure for payments transfers, including remittances, between Money Transfer Companies (MTOs), enterprises, banks, and Mobile Network Operators (MNOs). It allows interoperability among these institutions across more than a thousand of cross-border payment corridors and connects more than 500 million mobile wallets. The servicing of remittances, to and within Africa, is a significant part of the Company’s business.

The Company is fully owned by Onafriq UK Holdings Limited, the holding company of Onafriq Group set up in 2021. Shareholding of the Group is diversified, with 28 direct shareholders, mostly comprised of institutional investors. The largest shareholder is Fonty MFS Holding Ltd, Mauritius, a vehicle holding shares of some of the Group’s senior executives and early angel investors. LUN Partners Group, the second largest shareholder, is an Asia-based global investment firm primarily investing in high-growth FinTech and other digital technology companies around the world.                                                   

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - Onafriq Mauritius Limited Client -
- - - - Onafriq UK Holdings Limited Parent Company -

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.

Onafriq UK Holdings Limited on behalf of Onafriq Mauritius Limited
Frannie Tyner
Director, Corporate Development
N/A
frannie.tyner@onafriq.com
632 Wood Ave, Nairobi, KE
https://www.onafriq.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