Strategy
Our Approach: A Catalytic Fund of Funds
FASA is designed as a fund-of-funds that provides catalytic capital to investment funds financing African agri-SMEs.
By positioning itself at the intersection of impact and finance, FASA plays a de-risking role, mobilizing additional investors—both private and public—into a sector that remains underfunded despite its economic and social importance.
Investment strategy
FASA indirectly supports agri-SMEs along the agri-food value chain, through for-profit investment funds implementing various investment strategies across a range of asset classes, currencies, and geographies within Africa.
Geographic and sector focus
FASA supports funds investing in agri-SMEs headquartered or operating in Africa, including North and South Africa. It targets various agricultural subsectors, enabling broad exposure across the value chain.
Assets classes
FASA targets different profiles of Investment Funds, categorised by asset class e.g., Early-stage SME, Growth SME, Venture Capital, Debt, or Alternative Funds) and the maturity of their managers (emerging or established).
Investment instruments
FASA provides catalytic capital primarily in the form of junior equity tranches to its investee funds. It can also deploy other instruments, such as straight equity, preference shares, junior debt, mezzanine debt, or a mix of of these, depending on the structuring required to maximize its catalytic role.
Investment range
FASA’s contributions range from $2 million to $20 million per investment, typically representing 10% to 49% of the fund’s target size.
Investment horizon
With a focus on providing patient capital, FASA offers flexible repayment timelines and longer exit periods than traditional investors, while ensuring liquidity provisions.
Focus: Technical Assistance
Beyond providing catalytic capital, FASA integrates technical assistance as a core pillar of its strategy, ensuring that both investment funds and agri-SMEs have the tools, expertise, and skills needed for long-term success. TA is non-financial support that complements FASA’s investments, offering expert guidance, training, tools, and customized resources to enhance financial sustainability, impact performance, and climate resilience.
Technical assistance is embedded throughout the entire investment process—starting at the screening stage and continuing for the 10+ years FASA remains an investor. It is managed by I&P, leveraging partnerships with sectoral and technical experts to deliver targeted and high-value support.
Impact Themes
FASA is centered around three impact themes: enhanced food security and nutrition, improved livelihoods, and climate-smart value chains. These themes guide our support for Investment Funds that back agri-SMEs whose business models and offerings align with these specific areas of impact.
FASA also prioritizes two cross-cutting themes: gender and climate. These themes are embedded across the investment process, ensuring that FASA evaluates and strengthens gender and climate practices for all IF managers and their agri-SMEs, regardless of their maturity or focus areas. Through targeted capacity building, FASA works with investment fund managers to enhance their understanding and integration of gender and climate considerations, ultimately driving greater accountability and impact in these critical areas.
Enhancing food security and nutrition
FASA promotes activities that support food security and nutrition, contributing to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2 (Zero Hunger), 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), and 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production).
Improving livelihoods
Farmers are the backbone of Africa’s food systems, yet they often face challenges that limit their productivity and profitability. FASA will promote activities that support farmers’ livelihoods and jobs, contributing to SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities).
Promoting climate-smart value chains
FASA will promote climate-smart agricultural practices and technologies contributing to boost productivity, enhance resilience to climate change, and reduce or remove greenhouse gas emissions. Contributions to SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), 13 (Climate Action), 14 (Life below Water), and 15 (Life on Land) are expected.
Focus: Gender
FASA’s gender strategy is based on an existing and internationally recognized framework: the 2X Challenge. This facilitates performance benchmarking and contribute to sharing knowledge on gender topics.
Focus: Climate
Climate is part of both FASA’s impact themes and cross-cutting themes:
As an impact theme (climate-smart value chain), FASA supports funds that finance agri-SMEs which core business will address climate issues. These agri-SMEs will produce goods or services responding to climate challenges such as soil and crop management, water management, energy management, conservation and restoration, adaptation services.
As a cross-cutting theme, FASA analyzes climate-related practices, at both investment fund and agri-SME levels. Indeed, whatever their sector of activity and the goods and services they produce, the way they are produced and the environmental impact they generate must be considered. In the case of agri-SMEs, FASA will therefore be pushing investment funds to take environmental practices into account when selecting and supporting projects.
Useful Links
Access detailed information about our policies by clicking on the links below: