Our investment
Description of the investment.
Description of the investment.
We invested €20m in Amethis Fund III. Amethis has demonstrated its ability to successfully invest in and grow mid-sized businesses across each of Africa’s sub-regions. Over the past 12 years, they have raised €1.1 billion, invested in 38 transactions and concluded 17 exits. Examples of companies they have backed include the largest wheat miller in Mozambique, the leading supermarket chain in Kenya, and the leading distributor of antiretrovirals in Southern Africa.
Through Amethis III, we will invest in sectors and businesses aligned to our strategic and impact objectives including: i) non-bank financial institutions, ii) manufacturing and distribution, iii) healthcare, and iv) services (infrastructure, energy, logistics and ICT). Amethis has also committed to 100 per cent of its portfolio being 2X qualified at the time of exit. Amethis III has also been registered as an Article 9 Fund under the SFDR (Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation).
Impact information
Applies to investments made from 2019 onwards. The tabs in this section define what we expect to achieve through the investment, assessing the potential impact of the investment against six dimensions of impact. You can find more details on our methodology of assessing impact here.
Applies to investments made from 2019 onwards. The tabs in this section define what we expect to achieve through the investment, assessing the potential impact of the investment against six dimensions of impact. You can find more details on our methodology of assessing impact here.
What?
| Impact |
|---|
Access to finance for businesses that provide goods and services to African consumers, enabling business expansion and quality jobs through growth capital and value creation. |
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How?
| How? |
|---|
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Minority and majority equity investments in 10-12 mid-cap companies operating across Africa. |
Who?
| Stakeholder | Geography | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|
| Variable dependent on investee company (customers, employees, suppliers) |
Pan-African |
Variable. Some reach to low-income customers, employees and/or suppliers in sectors such as manufacturing, financial services, healthcare, FMCG. There is a commitment for 100 per cent of investees to be 2X qualified at exit. |
How much?
| Scale | Depth/Duration |
|---|---|
|
The fund has a job creation target of 1,000 over the fund's lifetime. Each portfolio company will have a quantified climate action plan with targeted reductions in greenhouse gas emissions; some may have additional scale-related metrics where appropriate (e.g. smallholder farmers reached, number of customers). |
Duration: The pace of implementation will vary by portfolio company, but expected duration of impact is long, i.e. beyond exit, as new practices are embedded into business models. |
Contribution/additionality
| Contribution/additionality |
|---|
|
Financial additionality: Our investment increases the likelihood of a successful and timely second close, and forms part of the substantial portion of DFI capital required for the fund to reach optimal size.
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Risk
Execution Risk(1) The fund fails to achieve optimal size, leading to sub-optimal portfolio and impact. This is aligned with commercial risk and is mitigated by backing an experienced fund manager; (2) The fund struggles to effectively design and implement climate action plans, which is a new area of focus. This is mitigated by Amethis’ plans to continue building internal capacity while simultaneously engaging experienced consultants for technical work. External RiskThe fund invests across Africa, including in many challenging markets which are likely to experience geopolitical and/or economic shocks during the fund's life. This risk is inherent in these markets and has to be tolerated but is mitigated by backing an experienced regional investor. |
Impact score
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Impact score (at point of investment)
The Impact Score is a tool to help us manage our performance against our strategic impact objectives. It is designed to incentivise investments that support our productive, sustainable, and inclusive objectives. You can find out more here. The Impact Score is published for investments made from 2022 onwards. The Impact Scores are calculated at the point of investment. We publish the Impact Scores of new investments annually, once the information has been externally assured by an independent third party. |
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5 |
Environmental and social information
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Environmental and social summary
A high-level description of the environmental and social aspects of the investment. This may include a summary of key environmental and social risks identified during environmental and social due diligence (ESDD); key elements of an environmental and social action plan (ESAP); or ways in which we plan to support the investee improve environmental and social standards, such as through their environmental and social management system (ESMS); as well as any other priority areas agreed with the investee.
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Environmental and social risk
A risk category rating, which indicates the level of environmental and social risk associated with an investment. For an explanation of the categorisations used, see here. We consistently provide an environmental and social risk category for all investments screened from 2023 onwards.
Environmental and social summary
We agreed an ESAP which focussed in particular on Human Resources policy and ESMS improvements including development of a climate impact methodology to align with TCFD requirements.
Environmental and social risk
Medium-High
Reporting and Complaints Mechanism
The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism allows anyone outside BII to report alleged breaches of the business integrity or environmental and social provisions of BII’s Policy on Responsible Investing. This includes breaches made by BII, a BII investee, or a portfolio company of a fund in which BII has invested. The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism Rules are available here. Reports and complaints can be submitted by email to reportsandcomplaints@bii.co.uk or by mail. See more details on our Reporting and Complaints Mechanism here.
For any other general enquiries contact us at enquiries@bii.co.uk
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Key facts
- First published
:
When the investment was first published on the website database.
- March 2024
- Last updated
:
When the last quarterly update of the website database occurred.
- December 2024
- Project number
:
An identifier number shared by investments in the same project.
- D6340
- Status
:
The current status of the investment (green flag for active and red flag for exited).
- Active
- Region
:
The geographical region where the country is located. We currently invest in Africa, South Asia, South East Asia and the Caribbean. In 2023, BII’s investment mandate was extended allowing it to invest in regional funds linked to Ukraine, with the majority of activity expected to begin post-war. Investments outside these regions were made prior to 2012 under previous investment mandates.
- Africa
- Investment type :
- Fund
- Start date :
- December 2023
- Amount :
- $21.78m
- Currency of investment :
- EUR
- Fund manager:
- Amethis Fund III Management S.A.R.L.
- Domicile
:
The company or investment fund’s place of incorporation.
- Luxembourg
We provide capital in the following ways: directly – through direct equity, direct debt, guarantees and other non-intermediated financial instruments; and indirectly – principally through investment funds.
For direct investments and fund investments, this is the date BII committed capital to the investments. This is typically the date on which legal agreements are signed by all parties.
For the portfolio companies of our fund investments, this is the date (either the month or the quarter) on which the fund committed capital to the portfolio company.
For direct equity investments, this is the date at which British International Investment exited the investment.
For debt investments, this is the date at which the final debt repayment was made.
For funds, this is the date at which the fund was terminated.
For underlying fund investments, this is the date at which the fund manager exited the investment.
The total amount committed, per financial instrument, per investment, on the date BII becomes subject to a binding legal obligation to provide funding or assume a contingent liability. This information is provided in US dollars.
For direct investments, this is the amount that BII has committed to the business or project. For fund investments, this is the amount BII has committed to the fund.
The currency in which the investment was made.
- 2X Gender Finance
:
Indicates whether the investment is ‘2X qualified’ using the 2X Challenge criteria. You can find out more here. It only applies to investments made from 2018 onwards, when the 2X Challenge was first launched.
- Partially qualified
- First published
