Norfund commits $25M to DPI's next fund after MNT-Halan IPO
What's the deal? Development finance institution NorfundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → committed $25 million to Development Partners International's (DPI)Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → next fund, a private equity vehicle, in December. The pledge follows DPI's track record backing Egyptian fintech MNT-Halan, which listed its Egyptian business on the Cairo stock exchange in October.
Why now? MNT-Halan's listing was Egypt's largest initial public offering since 2021. It marked the third DPI portfolio company to list within 18 months, after Optasia in Johannesburg and CMGP GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → in Casablanca.
What's the endgame? Norfund had earlier committed $40 million to DPI's African Development Partners III (ADP III) fund in 2019, which invested in MNT-Halan in 2021. The new $25 million commitment extends that relationship into DPI's latest fund.
The track record: MNT-Halan had 400,000 customers in 2018, most of them people no bank would lend to. It has since grown into a regional platform serving 10 million customers across Egypt, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Pakistan, offering services to the unbanked and underserved.
The signal: Norfund's commitment shows how development finance institutions use fund managers to reach companies they could not back directly. As Norfund put it, investing through funds like ADP III "lets us reach companies we could never find or follow up on our own."
Read more: africaprivateequitynews.com
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