British International Investment

Amethis MENA Fund II

MoroccoNorth AfricaNorth AfricaCommunications & IT servicesFood & AgricultureInfrastructure

Amethis MENA Fund II invests in small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in North Africa (primarily Morocco and Egypt). This is the second fund under Amethis’ SME strategy. The firm also manages a pan-African mid-large cap fund, which we committed to in 2019.

Our investment

Description of the investment.

Our commitment to AMF II will support the fund to provide growth capital to SMEs. In turn, this will support economic opportunities for employees, suppliers, and consumers across Morocco, Egypt, and Tunisia. Our commitment at final close will enable the fund to achieve its fundraising target.

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.

What?

Impact

Providing economic opportunities through direct employment creation (SDG 8.5) via growth of targeted SMEs.

How?

How?
  • Direct: Growth equity investments in 10-12 family-owned SMEs via both minority and majority stakes.

Who?

Stakeholder Geography Characteristics
Employees, suppliers, and consumers.

Morocco (50 per cent), Egypt (40 per cent), Tunisia (approximately 10 per cent).

Variable across sectors. Likely to be low and medium skilled employees in manufacturing SMEs. 35 per cent of employees across portfolio companies are women and 17 per cent are below the age of 30.

How much?

Scale Depth/Duration

Amethis’ previous Africa-fund portfolio companies (across Amethis Funds I and II and Amethis Maghreb Fund I) collectively generated over $2 billion in revenues during 2020.

Amethis has a strong commitment to ensuring high job quality standards within their portfolio companies. 87 per cent of employees within Amethis’ Africa funds are covered by medical insurance. Given this, impact is expected to be significant for employees across portfolio companies, especially for lower-skilled employees accessing formal employment.

Contribution/additionality

Contribution/additionality
  • Value additionality: The fund is 2X qualified based on its commitment to deploy 30 per cent to 2X qualifying businesses throughout the life of the fund as well as its commitment to improve women’s representation within the fund manager team to 40 per cent or more (from current level of 36 per cent). We will also support the manager in strengthening their impact management systems via conducting their first-ever verification of alignment with the Operating Principles for Impact Management

Risk

Execution Risk
  • This is linked to new markets such as Egypt, where the manager has less of a proven track record. The risk is mitigated through what we believe is a high quality team with good knowledge of north African markets.

Impact score

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.

4

Understanding our impact information (PDF)

Environmental and social information

  • 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.
  • 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

The fund manager has a well-established approach to environmental and social management and we will continue to support and monitor its approach as the portfolio grows.

Environmental and social risk

Medium-Low

Understanding our approach to environmental and social risk (PDF)

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

  • Key facts
    Last updated

    When the last quarterly update of the website database occurred.
    :
    June 2024
    Project number

    An identifier number shared by investments in the same project.
    :
    D5430
    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.
    :
    North Africa
    Sector

    We prioritise those sectors that facilitate development and need our capital the most. Our priority sectors contribute towards many of the Sustainable Development Goals. They range from investing in the power infrastructure that will provide people with better access to electricity, to investing in financial institutions that direct capital to the individuals and businesses that need it the most.

    :
    Communications & IT services, Food & Agriculture, Infrastructure

    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.
    Investment type :
    Fund
    Start date :
    July 2022
    Amount :
    $15.73m
    Currency of investment :
    EUR
    Fund Manager:
    Amethis MENA II General Partner
    Domicile

    The company or investment fund’s place of incorporation.
    :
    Luxembourg
    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.
    :
    Fully qualified

    Download as PDF

    Click here to read our data guidance

Investments made by this fund into companies:

For further information about these companies, visit https://amethis.com/en/home/

Investment name Country Region Sector Start date Status
BBI North Africa Africa Communications & IT services January 2024 Active
Energy Transfo Morocco North Africa Infrastructure September 2023 Active
Globex Morocco, North Africa Africa, North Africa Infrastructure December 2022 Active
Magriser Morocco, North Africa Africa, North Africa Food & Agriculture December 2022 Active
Tarjama Jordan, North Africa Africa, Western Asia Communications & IT services December 2022 Active

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