AECF provides funding and support to businesses in the agriculture, renewable energy, and climate sectors in Africa to promote sustainable development. It has invested in 268 small businesses across 26 countries, leveraging $750 million in private sector funding. AECF focuses on supporting youth, businesses in fragile areas, and women-owned enterprises. Its work contributes to ending poverty and hunger, achieving gender equality, increasing access to energy, and combating climate change by improving incomes, food security, jobs, and climate-smart technologies.

1. AECF: CONTRIBUTING TO
SUSTAINABLE
AGRICULTURE
PRIVATE SECTOR PERSPECTIVE

2. “We unlock the power of the private sector to positively impact the lives
of rural and marginalized communities in Africa”
WHAT WE DO
We provide catalytic funding, advisory support and
market linkages to early stage and growth stage
businesses in the Agriculture, Renewable Energy and
Climate Mitigation and Adaptation Technologies sectors

3. OUR CROSS-CUTTING THEMES
Youth
Fragile
Contexts
Gender
“We are the leading
institution in gender
lens investing in
Africa”
“We go where no
one wants to go”
“We understand that
youth are the drivers
of the next economic
revolution in Africa”

4. WE GENERATE IMPACT BY INVESTING IN GROWING BUSINESSES
Supported 268 small and growing
businesses across 26 countries in sub-
Saharan Africa and leveraged
US$ 750 million from the private
sector (2018 estimate)

5. ALIGNED TO SDGS
SDG
Target
AECF
Align
ment
End poverty in all
its forms
everywhere
Achieve gender
equality and
empower all
women and girls
Sustained, inclusive
and sustainable
economic growth,
employment and
decent work for all
Ensure access to
affordable, reliable,
sustainable and
modern energy for
all
Take urgent action
to combat climate
change and its
impacts*
 Increase
household
incomes
 Increase food
security
 Invest in
women owned
enterprises
 Increase
women’s
income
 Invest in
renewable
energy
 Increase jobs
(youth, women &
marginalized
groups)
 Catalyze job
creation
 Invest in
climate smart
technologies
End hunger,
achieve food
security and
improved nutrition
 Increased
household
incomes to end
hunger and
improve
nutrition

6. STRATEGICALLY POSITIONED TO SUPPORT SGBs IN POVERTY ALLEVIATION
AECF learnings on how to address the gap
 Customised and flexible
interventions to widen the pool of
businesses supported
 Share innovation risk to catalyse
industries
 Provide customised technical
support to overcome growth
challenges and scale businesses
 Link businesses to external
financing for sustainability
Mature Africanbusinesseshave many
fundingoptions
AECF’s goal is to
bridge this gap
across Africa
Demandforfunds
(# Africanbusinesses)
Supplyoffunds
(# investors)
Early stage
Growth stage
Expansion
Stage
Mature
businesses
Accelerators;
Foundations
Incubators
Angels
Microfinance
& VC
Impact investors
& Small Cap PE
PE; Commercial Banks
& Public Markets
Small & earlystage businessesthatrequire
lowerlevelsoffunding

7. Our growing
portfolio and
new product
offering to
address the
Missing Middle
AUM ($ mil) ≤50 ≥100 ≥200
USD10m-100m+USD2m-10mUSD100k-2m
≥1000
Dealsize
OUR POSITION IN THE ECOSYSTEM

8. IN 10 YEARS, WE HAVE LEARNT HOW TO CATALYSE PRIVATE SECTOR
What we have achieved Organizational capabilities
189
Agribusiness investments
79
Renewable energy investments
4
Operational bases
26
Countries
38%
of investments in startups
$685,000
Average ticket size
Deep and broad pipeline from over
10,000 applications for funding in 31
competitions
Understanding of diverse markets and
regulatory environments in more than
40 value chains and 10 renewable
energy technologies
Understanding of early and growth
stage business needs and risks and how
each can help alleviate rural poverty

9. SMECashFlows
Stages
HIGHER RISK LOWER RISK
Idea, Seed &
Early
(1-3 years)
Early &
Growth
(2-6 years)
Growth &
Expansion
(>6 years)
Expansion &
Maturity
Maturity, Buyout
& Strategic
Acquisition
Grants, Equity-like,
Quasi-Equity, Zero –
Interest Loans, TA
Equity-like, Quasi-
Equity, Loans, TA
AECF Core
AECF Connect / Exchange
AECF Scale
Grant & zero interest loan products
for high-impact, risky companies &
business ideas, and support for local
BDS providers
Flexible upside products to Core graduates
(75%) and non-graduates that are especially
impactful and do not fit Core (25%)
Grants, Zero Interest
Loans, TA

10. MILLIONS IMPACTED IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
18 million
Lives Impacted
(40% women)
>50% from
agribusiness
11,000
People Directly Employed
(60% Youth)
<40% from
agribusiness
$ 750 million
Cumulative Matching Funds
Leveraged
>55% from
agribusiness
$ 1.3 billion
in Cumulative Total
Development Impact
>70% from
agribusiness
Note: Above figures are 2018 impact estimates based on projections.

11. 1. Ending Hunger: A significant part of AECF’s investment is to improve the availability of nutritious food for the
very poor, either directly through increased productivity or by improving incomes. Our agribusiness portfolio has
reached >9 million people, most of whom live below the poverty level of $1.90 per day.
2. Nutrition: AECF invests in seed companies producing fortified staple crops and in nutritious pulses that directly
improve the nutrition at the household level. We have recently launched a new program for promoting access to
improved seeds in Africa, a US$ 60 million fund (with an initial US$ 10 million) with the target to commercialise 5
seeds varieties and reach >2.5 million people in the next 5 years.
SPECIFIC CONTRIBUTION TO SDG 2

12. 3. Income: AECF exists to change the way market systems work in favour of poor people, meaning both increasing
productivity but increasing access to markets by linking poor farmers to markets and moving them up the value
chain. In agriculture, our investment has increased household incomes by an average of $140. We invest in
companies that improve productivity by making better inputs available through smaller package sizes and local
distribution networks. We improve access to markets by grouping farmers together as outgrowers and
innovating information systems to link farmers to markets.
Meru Greens (our investee) works with 10,000 smallholder farmers in Kenya who grow green beans and other
crops for processing and export to European and Middle Eastern markets improving incomes by $350 per year –
the cost of sending a child to secondary school.
SPECIFIC CONTRIBUTION TO SDG 2 (CONT.)

13. 4. Resilience and adaptation to climate change: AECF has a programme in Kenya that specifically focuses on
surfacing business ideas that support smallholder farmers become more resilient to the effects of climate change
– this includes new crops for dryland areas – moringa, croton nuts (biodiesel), eri caterpillars (silk) – new
varieties of existing crops – drought tolerant maize, climate appropriate pulses, improved dryland crops such as
sorghum and millet – new services – weather insurance, farmer information services – and new technologies –
drip irrigation, solar pumps
5. Preservation of genetic diversity: AECF has supported small and medium sized seed companies to commercialise
indigenous varieties of grains and pulses that are otherwise not interesting to the global seed giants. We fund
efforts to breed these genetics into climate and culturally appropriate seeds that can be grown by small farmers
for local consumption. Our investments in seed companies reached over 700,000 households last year.
AECF invested in Naseco from Uganda to expand into DRC and Burundi, establishing local production for
improved varieties of maize and beans. Incomes for over 33,000 farmers have increased by $109 along with
improved household food security in an area suffering conflict.
SPECIFIC CONTRIBUTION TO SDG 2 (CONT.)

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