The Africa Food Security Fund and its manager, Exeo Capital, have made a combined equity investment of US$7.5mn into Africa Global Trade Finance (AGTF), taking the fund’s total investment in the trade finance provider to around US$20mn.
In a deal closed in August, the Africa Food Security Fund contributed US$5.5mn, while Exeo Capital committed US$2mn directly – marking its first direct investment into AGTF, according to Paul Nguru, partner at Exeo Capital.
The capital has already been deployed into AGTF’s loan book, Nguru told GTR, and “indirectly into the bank accounts of farmers in Africa, or traders who are supporting trade in Africa”.
AGTF provides short-term structured commodity finance to underserved SMEs and selected larger traders across a dozen African countries and around 10 commodities, mostly in the agrifood sector.
The firm uses an originate-and-distribute model that combines its own equity with risk participants and direct bank lines.
The recent investment from the Africa Food Security Fund and Exeo reflected the strength of the company’s track record and financial performance, the company’s chief investment officer, Sam West, said.
A previous US$1.5mn follow-on investment from the fund at the end of 2024 had generated “strong returns”, he said, which backed the case for a larger ticket this time.
AGTF’s loan portfolio currently stands at around US$80mn, with the firm expecting that figure to rise to US$100mn by the end of this year – up from US$60mn at the end of 2025 – and to more than US$200mn within two years with the help of the latest capital injection, West added.
The investment follows a leadership change at AGTF earlier this year. Chief operating officer Henno Loots was named acting CEO after former chief executive Anne-Marie Woolley stepped down from the role in February, joining Mercore as its new CEO last week.
Nguru said the Africa Food Security Fund and Exeo Capital had “full and absolute confidence” in the AGTF management to continue delivering positive results.
Exeo Capital manages three agriculture-related funds and has deployed or managed around US$400mn in capital across roughly 35 investments in African agribusiness, spanning about 10 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, he said.
Nguru said the fund’s priorities were increasingly focused on sustainable and climate-resilient farming, value addition and gender impact, noting that agriculture in Africa employed a higher proportion of women than many other regions.
He added that AGTF’s growth was also having a demonstration effect on the wider market.
As AGTF invests more heavily in Africa, this is “attracting more capital from other places”, Nguru said.
The deal comes as Africa’s trade finance gap remains high amid a retreat by commercial banks from the continent, with the African Development Bank estimating unmet demand at between US$74bn and US$92bn in 2024.
