TLcom announces first close of $70m for tech fund
Africa-focused venture capital firm TLcom has announced a first close of $70m for its $150m tech fund, which will focus on startups in Egypt and East and West
Africa. The firm, which has offices in Nairobi, Lagos and London, expects to add 20 more earlystage startups to its portfolio with an emphasis on the seed and series A stages, with ticket sizes ranging from $500,000 to $15m. It will target sectors including fintech, mobility, agriculture, healthcare, education and ecommerce. A second close of the fund is expected later in 2022. Investors include German insurance giant Allianz through its AfricaGrow joint venture with DEG Impact, Germany’s development finance institution, as well as German media conglomerate Bertelsmann, King Philanthropies, FBNQuest and several DFIs.
Shalina Resources signs $600m DRC mining deal
Shalina Resources has signed a $600m agreement with commodity trading giant Trafigura to produce copper and cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The financing agreement will enable Shalina, through
DRC subsidiary Chemaf, to complete construction of the mechanised Mutoshi mine and a processing plant in Kolwezi. It will also enable the expansion of the Etoile SX-EW processing plant in Lubumbashi. All sites are in DRC’s Katanga Province. The agreement also covers the marketing by Trafigura of the cobalt hydroxide produced from these assets, which is expected to continue until 2027.
Tanzania calls for investors in $900m Burundi railway deal
Tanzania has issued a call for financiers to back a new railway line linking its western town of Uvinza with Burundi’s capital Gitega. The planned $900m standard gauge railway (SGR), spanning 282km, will begin in Kigoma and terminate in Gitega in central Burundi. The project hopes to transport a million tonnes of cargo between the two countries and 3m tonnes of minerals from Burundi to Tanzania each year, a statement issued by Tanzania’s finance ministry said.
US invests over $200m in Ethiopia’s Oromia region
US Aid is to invest 10.2bn birr ($203m) in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. The investments, which will run for five years under the government of Ethiopialed Productive Safety Net Programme, will rehabilitate degraded lands with soil and water conservation practices, train young people and help to grow nutritious foods.
The deal comes as hopes rise of an end to Ethiopia’s civil war, which has strained relations between the US and Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed’s government.