Written by Dinfin Mulupi | From How We Made It In Africa

Last year one of the first Tanzania-based private equity firms launched with a US$200m fund. Private equity (PE) flows into East Africa have increased significantly in the last five years.

And although some PE funds have sealed deals with Tanzanian companies, the funds mostly operate out of Nairobi or Johannesburg. Hence, the entry of Mkoba Private Equity Fund was greeted with enthusiasm in the East African nation.

Mkoba was co-founded by a team of Tanzanian professionals led by former World Bank vice-president Frannie Léautier and accomplished businessman and economist Jitesh Ladwa.

Financing solutions in a post-socialist state

Ladwa, who is CEO of the fund, tells How we made it in Africa that Mkoba was set up to respond to the challenges local entrepreneurs face in accessing capital.

“In Tanzania, and in most post-socialist countries, we are faced with a triple problem of capital. One is that the state banks, where we used to get money, are gone because of liberalisation of the banking sector,” says Ladwa.

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