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AHL Venture Partners has closed an additional $15 million debt facility for its Africa Credit Fund (ACF), bringing total capital raised to $45.5 million from family offices and family foundations.
The fund is targeting a final close of $70 million, with a planned close date in Q1 2027.
The latest close follows the fund’s first close at $30.5 million in May 2026, which was completed in under 12 months.
Anchored by AHL Foundation, the ACF has attracted capital from family offices, high-net-worth individuals, and foundations seeking exposure to African credit markets.
AHL has been operating on the continent since 2007, initially advising the AHL Foundation on investments into African businesses across debt, equity, and fund investments.
In 2020, the firm decided to concentrate on private credit, believing it provided a safer and more scalable option for investors seeking financial returns and social impact. Since then, AHL has invested over $120 million in debt across Africa through the AHL Foundation and its syndications.
The Africa Credit Fund provides senior secured, mezzanine, and bridge loans to scalable African businesses, with a focus on financial inclusion, climate-related companies, and agriculture.
Alongside the fund, the AHL Foundation continues to deploy capital into earlier-stage, higher-risk businesses that may not yet fit the fund’s scale but could grow into candidates for larger financing over time.
“It’s not that Africa lacks opportunity. And it’s not that capital isn’t willing to allocate there. It’s a matching problem. There are brilliant, high-growth businesses across the continent solving real problems. And there is genuine capital sitting with family offices, local asset managers and global allocators who want exposure to African private markets. The two sides just rarely find each other in a structure that works for both,” said Rosanne Whalley, founder of AHL Venture Partners.
The ACF does not replace the AHL Charitable Foundation but sits alongside it. AHLCF will continue backing earlier-stage, high-impact businesses that may not yet meet the fund’s scale or risk profile but that could mature into candidates for larger, more structured financing over time.
Going forward, the ACF and AHLCF will play complementary roles across AHL’s platform driven private credit at scale.
AHL started as a single-family office deploying patient capital into first-time fund managers and equity on the continent.
Over more than a decade, that gave the firm the relationships and operating experience it now uses to structure credit products designed to deliver liquid, risk-adjusted returns with measurable impact.
The fund remains open and continues raising capital towards its $70 million target.
