British International Investment, to Inject $100M into the Egyptian Startups Ecosystem
British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution (DFI) and impact investor, has announced plans to invest $100 million in Egyptian startups throughout its current strategy. The DFI, formerly known as CDC Group, also reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening its partnership with Egypt and increasing climate finance to help the country achieve green growth.
Commenting on the plan, Gareth Bayley, British Ambassador to Egypt said “Given the country’s growth potential, Egypt is one of BII’s priority markets. BII’s investment deals in financial services, health care, and clean energy demonstrate the strength of the UK-Egypt trade and green partnership. I wish the UK’s DFI all the best as it works to support Egypt’s green transformation ahead of the COP27 in November.”
The DFI announced new commitments to local VC firms Algebra Ventures and Endure Capital as part of BII’s ambition to strengthen Egyptian VC. Both VC firms support promising early-stage startups to build transformative startups in industries like fintech, AgriTech, EdTech, logistics, and healthcare.
British International Investment will also host the ‘Innovation for Impact’ summit, which will focus on venture capital in emerging markets. The summit, which will bring together local VC managers from Africa and Asia, aims to foster new relationships and greater collaboration across markets; explore important themes such as climate tech and food security; facilitate knowledge sharing across BII’s portfolio, and share the best practices on ESG and impact measurement.
As the UK’s primary vehicle for climate finance investments and Africa’s largest bilateral DFI, BII is committed to expanding its partnership with the Egyptian government to develop a blueprint addressing Climate Adaptation and Renewable Energy (CARE) for powering energy-intensive water infrastructure.
BII has committed over $760 million in direct and indirect investments in Egypt in critical sectors like clean infrastructure and energy, healthcare, manufacturing, and financial services.