News
Originally published in our December newsletter. Sign up to our mailing list.
This year has seen shifting capital flows, including the dramatic contraction of development aid, across sub-Saharan Africa, underscoring the importance of stronger, locally led financial systems. In response, we have sharpened our focus on new initiatives rooted in local capital and local currencies.
Against this backdrop, 2025 has been a year of progress for Small Foundation, with disbursements across our portfolio reaching over €8 million, our largest year to date.
Our team also grew. Earlier in the year, Mwikali Muia joined our network practice in Nairobi and Vikas Gurav joined operations in Dublin. More recently, our investment practice welcomed David Maina in Nairobi and Femi Kehinde in Lagos, strengthening our ability to work closely with partners on the ground.
Across our partnerships, we saw continued innovation. Emerald Africa has now lent $2.4m across nine investee companies, demonstrating what is possible when capital is tailored to rural market realities. We also progressed several investments through our GP Facility, supporting emerging fund managers; and strengthened collaboration across our ecosystem with four new impact network partnerships.
We are pleased to share further highlights from the year below. As we look to 2026, Small Foundation remains committed to collaboration, innovation, impact, and learning. Thank you to our partners for their ongoing dedication to systemic change across the African MSME ecosystem.
12 highlights from 2025
-
- Celebrated our partners in our 2024 Impact Report, highlighting achievements in expanding finance, strengthening enterprises, and ecosystem leadership.
- Engaged deeply in collaboration with peer funders to address systemic barriers through the Growth Firms Alliance and the Catalytic Capital Consortium.
- Established new and renewed partnerships with impact networks East African Philanthropy Network, Association of Countrywide Innovation Hubs, the Early Stage Capital Provider Network and Women in African Investments.
- Invested in EFAfrica Group’s scalable equipment leasing model, now supporting thousands of MSMEs; and Vista Bank Sierra Leone’s agri-SME lending, which has attracted substantial follow-on capital.
- Advanced SME financing in partnership with Vula, whose AI-driven platform is harnessing data to improve efficiency for funders and access for entrepreneurs.
- Bolstered collaboration and learning through our fifth annual stakeholder feedback survey and our second annual partner gathering in Nairobi.
- Contributed to a more resilient and diversified capital ecosystem by backing global and local fund managers, including Impactable and our GP Working Capital and Moremi Technical Assistance facilities.
- Invested in FrontEnd Ventures, Khuwaylid Capital and Climate Resilient Africa Fund through our GP Facility, providing critical runway and working capital to early-stage African fund managers.
- Supported research for rural enterprise efficiency: on distributed renewable energy by Power for All, and on digitising operations by Advance Insight.
- Advanced sector learning with ISF’s 2025 State of the Sector Report, and a new collaboration with Impact Frontiers to strengthen systems impact reporting.
- Strengthened African network leadership in a renewed partnership with Circle Generation, including support for the Bopa di Peo Fellowship.
- Piloted a new guarantee design with Koma Capital to help non-bank financial institutions expand lending to rural SMEs and women-led businesses.
