East Africa: HEVA shortlists beneficiaries for creative business fund

The fund is a patient loan facility made available from this year onwards to successful applicants through debt investments of between $20 000 and $50 000 over a maximum period of four years. 

Recipients were selected from Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Rwanda. Out of these businesses, 28 are female-owned or -run, while 43 are owned or run by men. Five applicants preferred not to state their gender. The value chain distribution includes crafts, cultural education, cultural infrastructure, cultural tourism, digital media, events, fashion, film and photography, food, interior, live music, music production, and hair and beauty.

HEVA says the shortlisted candidates will be subject to screening and will be evaluated before the final beneficiaries are announced. A business panel will examine the businesses to establish their viability, after which a creative panel will look at the products and market fit. Finally, a pitch panel will interrogate the owners to better understand their alignment to the fund’s criteria.

The businesses will then undergo a due-diligence process to review their compliance including a financial modelling stage that will assess their ability to absorb the loan requested. 

“HEVA is committed to allocating capital to the creative sector, and we are particularly excited about being able to expand to the rest of East Africa, especially at a time like this when the availability of capital is limited,” HEVA partner and investment manager Wakiuru Njuguna said. 

“We are cognisant of the particular challenges that businesses in this sector face, and as a result, we hope that the impact of this facility will be a testament to more capital allocation to East African businesses in the creative sector. Our goal is to commit more capital, as we are looking to raise $20m for the regional sector in the next three years.” 

HEVA facilitates the EACBF in partnership with the European Union and the French Development Agency.