With a pledged $200 million (USD), the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund (MFAGF) is a visionary Fund of Funds that works through African Investment Vehicles to promote early-stage, growth-oriented SMEs across the continent. The Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund seeks to provide young people, especially young women, with access to respectable and worthwhile employment. The Fund-of-Funds acts as a catalyst by enhancing and reducing the risk associated with African Investment Vehicles that are dedicated to advancing gender equity in entrepreneurship.
The MFAGF will offer a business development facility for the portfolio companies of investment vehicles in addition to capital for fund managers. The Fund-of-Funds initiative will apply gender-lens investing (GLI) principles to further the Mastercard Foundation’s Young Africa Works strategy, which seeks to provide access to 30 million young people in Africa, especially young women, to meaningful and respectable employment by 2030. The Fund-of-Funds has so far secured the support of two investment vehicles, one in East Africa and one in West Africa, both of which foster entrepreneurship. For the MFAGF, Investisseurs et Partenaires (I&P) serves as the fund advisor.