East African fund ties carry to impact targets

EG Capital, an East African and Zambian-focused impact investment firm, is tying up to 50 percent of its carried interest to its impact targets.

EG Capital is targeting $100 million for its inaugural impact fund, which will invest in the health, education, food and climate sectors across East Africa. The firm will track five impact metrics across the life of the fund, including financial performance and empowerment, gender, job creation, regional integration and climate change. Up to 50 percent of its eligible carried interest will be paid depending on the company’s progress against these targets, the firm told New Private Markets.

If the firm does not realise its impact objectives, it has pledged to donate the carried interest allocation to an education project, chosen in advance.

EG Capital, led by managing director Sandrine Henton, is an impact investment firm headquartered in Mauritius and Luxemburg with offices in Kenya and Zambia. It expects a first close on Fund I at the end of the year. Backers include UK-based charity the Waterloo Foundation and The African Women Impact Fund (AWIF), an initiative of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) established in collaboration with the Standard Bank Group.