Catalyst Private Equity has launched a EGP 1 bn impact investment fund that will target Egyptian SMEs, it announced in a statement (pdf) yesterday. The Catalyst Capital Egypt Fund has received commitments from some of Egypt’s largest state-owned financial institutions and is working with the UN Development Program to measure the social and environmental impact of its portfolio companies, it said.

First close next month: The fund expects to reach its first close of EGP 400-450 mn in mid-April, Catalyst Chairman Maged Shawky told Enterprise. The fund should reach its final EGP 1 bn close within the next five years, he said.

Who’s involved? Misr Ins. Holding Company, Misr Life, Misr Ins., Post for Investment, Misr Fund for Finance and Investment, Banque du Caire, Attijariwafa Bank, Ahli United Bank, Suez Canal Bank and Al Baraka Bank are all taking part in the fund as limited partners, Catalyst said, without detailing the size of their commitments. Attijariwafa contributed EGP 30 mn to the fund, Marwa Nabil, head of structured finance at the bank, told Al Mal.

The fund is already studying several potential investments, with a focus on sectors that are defensive in terms of growth and profitability, namely agricultural manufacturing, pharma, and logistics, Al Borsa quotes Shawky as saying. It plans to exit its investments within 5-7 years, with an exit strategy focused primarily on IPOs, he said.

SPEAKING OF FUNDS-

• Banque Misr launched the “Egyptian Sports Fund” on Monday after receiving commitments from local and regional lenders totalling EGP 51 mn, the fund’s managing director Suzan Hamdy told Al Masdar. The fund will support different sports entities across the country, as well as Olympic athletes and national teams, in cooperation with Egyptian Sports Federations, according to a statement (pdf).
• Evolve Investment Holding could double the size of its gold-backed investment fund to EGP 1 bn, CEO Sameh El Torgoman told Al Mal.

IN OTHER INVESTMENT NEWS- Emirati investor eyes Egypt’s retail sector: Emirati businessman Saeed Eid Al Ghafli told Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly yesterday that he wants to invest in the Egyptian retail sector through malls, hypermarkets and logistics areas, according to a cabinet statement.