The doors of the FASA fund have finally opened — and now, the world’s newest “fund of funds” is ready to invest.
FASA stands for Financing for Agricultural SMEs in Africa, with SMEs referring to small and medium-sized enterprises. It is financed by the United States, Norway, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and the Small Foundation, a Dublin-based philanthropy.
Despite producing 80% of Africa’s locally consumed food — and generating a quarter of the continent’s rural employment — agri-SMEs face an estimated $100 billion lending gap, according to an analysis by the Mastercard Foundation and ISF Advisors.