Goodwell Investments and Oxfam Novib have announced a new fund worth EUR20 million (US$22 million) called Pepea, which will invest in early-stage growth companies in East Africa. The fund is aimed at small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with high impact potential, which are struggling to secure finance from banks and investment funds.

Goodwell Investments is an impact investment firm focused on inclusive growth in sectors providing basic goods and services and income generation opportunities to underserved communities in Africa and India. Oxfam Novib is an NGO that advocates for equality, fighting for a world where everyone has equal opportunities, regardless of gender, ethnicity or skin colour. The two organisations are collaborating on an investment programme for SMEs, with Pepea focusing on sustainable agriculture, energy, clean mobility and logistics, and waste management sectors.

The fund will use innovative venture debt structures with a focus on mezzanine finance to better encompass the needs of female entrepreneurs and stakeholders and to expand both Oxfam Novib and Goodwell’s approach to gender-lens investing.

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Goodwell Investments will manage Pepea's day-to-day operations and development of the portfolio, with the potential for follow-on investments from other Goodwell funds, and both organisations will be actively involved in setting and monitoring the fund's strategic course.

Speaking about this update, Tamara Campero, investment manager at Oxfam Novib said: “Oxfam Novib played a sterling role in developing the microfinance sector as a means to provide access to financial services where they were most needed. As that sector has matured beyond the realm of NGOs, we are ready to change direction toward a less-served segment of the market. We acknowledge the challenges of SMEs in the region – especially those that are women-owned – to access fine-tuned patient capital and we now want to play a role to address that need,”

Els Boerhof, Managing Partner at Goodwell Investments also disclosed that “Goodwell is always looking for innovative ways to better serve the needs of SMEs, and we’re extremely pleased to have the opportunity to do so with one of the most professional, critical NGOs in the impact sector. There are so many synergies between our organisations, and I’m convinced that together, we can set higher standards in the impact investing space.”