The European Investment Bank has disclosed a proposed investment of $85 million (€76 million) in Virunga Africa Fund II, a $500 million pan-African growth equity fund managed by Admaius Capital Partners, currently under appraisal by EIB Global.
The proposed commitment, which remains subject to relevant investment processes and approvals, would make the EIB one of the largest anchor investors in the fund and would represent approximately 17% of its $500 million target.
The investment aligns with the EU’s Global Gateway strategy and EIB Global’s mandate to allocate 50% of its capital to North Africa and the EU Southern Neighbourhood.
What Virunga Africa Fund II Is and How It Invests
The EIB Virunga Africa Fund II investment would back a growth equity vehicle targeting mid-sized African companies across five primary markets: Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Rwanda and South Africa. The fund plans to build a portfolio of 10 to 12 companies, deploying tickets of $15 million to $50 million per investment, primarily seeking majority stakes while remaining open to strategic minority positions.
The target sectors reflect the structural growth drivers that Admaius Capital has identified across its target markets: healthcare, fast-moving consumer goods, education and training, digital infrastructure, and financial services.
These are sectors where established mid-market businesses can absorb significant growth equity and where market leadership in a specific niche is achievable within the fund’s investment horizon.
Admaius Capital Partners: The Manager Behind the Fund
Admaius Capital Partners, founded in 2021, is an African-owned private equity firm headquartered in Kigali, Rwanda, with offices in Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, South Africa and Tunisia, and a presence in London.
Marlon Chigwende serves as Founder and Managing Partner, with Ahmed Rady as Managing Director.
Virunga Africa Fund II is the successor to Virunga Africa Fund I, a 2022-vintage vehicle that raised $280 million, anchored by institutional investors including the Rwanda Social Security Board, the Qatar Investment Authority, and the Public Investment Corporation.
VAF I has deployed into eight companies, including MFS Africa, the prominent pan-African digital payments network, and Cerealis, a Tunisian producer of snacks and baked goods.
The successor fund more than doubles the predecessor’s target, which is a signal of both portfolio performance and investor confidence in the strategy.
Why North Africa Gets Half the Capital
The Virunga Fund North Africa allocation of approximately 50% of total capital is the structural feature of VAF II that makes the EIB’s proposed investment particularly logical.
EIB Global operates under a directive that mandates a 50% capital allocation to North Africa and the EU Southern Neighbourhood as part of the EU’s Global Gateway strategy to accelerate cross-border trade and enterprise resilience between Europe and Africa.
By committing to a fund that is itself structured with a 50% North Africa allocation, the EIB positions its capital exactly where its mandate requires, within a growth equity vehicle managed by an experienced African fund manager with demonstrated portfolio companies across Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia.
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The alignment between EIB’s mandate and VAF II’s geographic structure is not coincidental. It reflects the kind of structural negotiation between fund managers and DFI investors that shapes how African private equity funds are designed to attract institutional capital.
A DFI-Led Capital Stack
The growth equity Africa investment thesis for Virunga Africa Fund II is being validated by a consortium of development finance institutions that each bring different mandate coverage.
The IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, has proposed a $25 million investment alongside a co-investment envelope of up to $10 million.
The EIB’s proposed $85 million commitment, if approved, would dwarf the IFC’s position and make it the largest disclosed DFI anchor in the fund.
The DFI-dominated capital stack reflects the fundraising realities of African growth equity at this stage of the market cycle.
While early 2026 showed recovery, with $870 million in disclosed African private capital commitments in the first months of the year, institutional and family office capital from outside Africa remains selective.
DFI anchor commitments from the EIB and IFC provide the credibility signals that help fund managers attract the commercial limited partners needed to reach target size.
What Success Would Deliver for Mid-Market African Companies
The practical outcome of a fully subscribed Virunga Africa Fund II is 10 to 12 mid-market African companies receiving $15 million to $50 million in growth equity, with the operational and governance support that Admaius Capital has demonstrated through VAF I.
At the average ticket size implied by the portfolio construction, that represents the kind of capital deployment that allows an established Moroccan consumer goods company, a Kenyan digital infrastructure business, or a South African healthcare group to pursue regional expansion, acquire complementary businesses, or build the management systems that prepare a company for a future institutional exit.
The fund’s concentration on majority or significant minority stakes, rather than passive minority positions, also implies active ownership: board representation, operational support and strategy engagement of the kind that distinguishes growth equity from passive institutional capital.
For the companies Admaius selects, the investment relationship is designed to be a genuine growth partnership rather than a financial instrument.
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