(Ecofin Agency) - The country made it to Africa’s top 5 countries that secured the most private equity financing because of a declining volume of overall private equity raised in Africa and a successful raise by Wave Mobile.

With about US$97 million raised in Q3-2022, Senegal was the third country with the highest private equity funding in Africa. According to a Techcabal report,  Senegal attracted more private equity funding than Kenya and South Africa but, it came behind Egypt (US$114.2 million) and Nigeria (US$221.25 million).

The performance was supported by the US$91.8 million loan provided by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and other investors to fintech Wave Mobile in July 2022. The second largest deal targeting a Senegalese company was the US$5 million Baobab+ secured from Symbiotics.

Despite this positive performance, Senegal remains a medium target for private equity financing in Africa.  According to transaction logs compiled by Ecofin Agency, the country has received nearly US$342 million in private equity financing since 2019, including the US$291 million secured by Wave Mobile.  

Let’s note that overall, African private equity financing is going through a somewhat lean period this year. At the end of Q3-2022, the continent had raised US$3.6 billion through various mechanisms, down by 53% year-on-year according to the Techcabal report.