Sahara Impact Ventures Fund I
Snapshot
Fund Type: Venture Capital
Fund Size: $30MM
Investment Stage: Early & Growth
Geographic Focus: Ghana & Nigeria
Sector Focus: Sustainable food systems, clean energy solutions and increased access to financial services, healthcare and education
Fund Overview
Sahara Impact Ventures Fund I provides early and growth capital to tech-enabled SMEs building the ‘Just Transition,’ focusing on sustainable food systems, clean energy solutions, and increased access to financial services, healthcare, and education in Ghana (70%) and Nigeria (30%). Africa contributes only 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions but faces disproportionately severe climate impacts. With a rapidly growing youthful population — 11 million entering the workforce annually yet fewer than 25% securing formal employment — the continent faces urgent challenges in food security, clean energy access, and climate resilience across critical sectors.
Why We Invested
Sahara Impact Ventures Fund I is an all-African female owned and led team. It holds an explicit gender lens and commits to gender and broader diversity at both the fund and portfolio company levels. The team brings deep local expertise and networks, with a gender and ethnically-diverse IC. The fund integrates climate and gender throughout its strategy, investment process, and post-investment support. It acknowledges the unique risks and opportunities women face in the climate context and targets sectors designed to address these inequities. The fund demonstrates passion, intentionality, and commitment, supported by robust strategy, processes, and people.
By targeting transformative sectors such as sustainable food systems, clean energy, and financial inclusion, SIV directly addresses the systemic challenges posed by climate change and gender inequality in West Africa.
Women as Agents of Change
Sahara Impact Ventures Fund I is highly intentional about recognizing ‘Women as Agents of Change” across their focus sectors and throughout the value chain. This perspective is embedded throughout their entire investment process — from opportunity identification and screening to due diligence, monitoring, and exit. The fund targets sectors with clear climate risks where women play key roles, as founders, employees, and value chain participants. Sustainable food systems, making up 50% of the fund, are vital in its markets, contributing around 21% of GDP, with women representing 70% of frontline workers and producing 80% of the food (UN forecasts). Yet, women’s limited land ownership and access to finance hinder their ability to grow businesses or manage climate risks. The fund invests here to ensure women are fairly supported and gain true equity in the green economy.
An example of this is Wahu Mobility, a female-owned and operated e-mobility company manufacturing electric bikes for West Africa’s last-mile delivery sector. For every bike used, 2.38 tCO2 is mitigated annually, and the company is already trading its carbon credits with the Swiss government. The enterprise is also committed to improving women’s livelihoods and economic empowerment by actively engaging them as riders. One such initiative is their “Women Deliver” pilot program, where they trained 20 women to participate in the last-mile delivery workforce, equipping them with skills and income-generating opportunities in a growing green economy.
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