RENEW, an impact investment firm has announced entry into Uganda, making it their second market in Africa after Ethiopia.
"The partners of RENEW recently traveled to Kampala, Uganda to hold preliminary meetings with promising companies, explore potential office sites," RENEW wrote in a press release.
The firm registered a local entity called RENEW Investments Uganda LTD and also hired their first employee in Uganda.
RENEW has been considering launching in Uganda for a long time. "Members of the RENEW team first traveled to Uganda in 2006 and have been observing the country ever since." Despite the country having many drawbacks, the firm says that a couple of factors attracted them.
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"Several factors make it an attractive destination for RENEW and the Impact Angel Network, including a growing population (currently estimated at 40 million), a rising middle class with a per capita GDP of $2,400, a government-oriented towards private sector growth and a legal system mainly based in English common law."
“Uganda has performed very well over the past ten years. The country also has a special place in RENEW’s history, as it was the first country I visited on the continent and learned about the immense opportunity in Sub-Saharan Africa’s private sector. We are excited that RENEW and the Impact Angel Network (IAN) are expanding from Ethiopia, where we have become the most active investment firm, into Uganda; a country rich with culture and opportunity,” RENEW’s CEO Matthew Davis recently commented.
RENEW has brought on Mary Adoi, as Legal Counsel. Mary comes to RENEW from Barry Investments Ltd, a commodity trading company operating in Northern Uganda, where she offered legal advisory services to the firm. Mary holds a bachelor’s degree from Makerere University Kampala and a post-graduate diploma from the Law Development Centre.
RENEW has been a presence in Ethiopia since 2012 and, with the IAN, has become one of the most active private equity investors in the country and plans to bring this full model to Uganda. RENEW is an impact investment firm that has designed an innovative financing model to address the missing middle that exists in the capital markets across many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The missing middle is a gap in the capital markets that exists between microfinance and larger equity funds and bank financing. The missing middle limits the development of the private sector, specifically for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). RENEW's model fills this gap by investing capital alongside the IAN, a global network of impact investors. RENEW established the IAN in 2012, and it has now grown to become the largest angel network in North America dedicated to investing in SMEs in Africa.
RENEW and the IAN partnered with the development community to build vibrant angel investment ecosystems that provide risk capital for SMEs, unlocking their potential for job creation and financial returns.