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TLG Capital, a private credit fund manager specialising in sub-Saharan Africa, has closed a $5 million scaling facility for Shona Capital Zambia, an SME lender providing fast and flexible loans to businesses in Zambia.
The facility is structured to support the growth of Shona’s loan book: capacity will be released in subsequent tranches as Shona scales, with additional guarantors and institutional partners expected to join as the transaction grows.
The investment, made from TLG’s Africa Growth Impact Fund II, marks TLG’s first foray into Zambia.
Shona operates in the $10,000 to $100,000 lending corridor, serving businesses too established for microfinance institutions yet too small or insufficiently documented for commercial banks. Where traditional lenders might take several weeks to disburse funds, Shona can disburse funds to borrowers within five days.
Isha Doshi, co-founder and partner at TLG Capital, said: “Zambia’s SME financing gap is $2 billion, and the hardest part to close is the middle – businesses too established for microfinance, too informal for a commercial bank.”
Kayinja Mfuni, CEO of Shona Capital Zambia, commented: “We started Shona Zambia with a simple belief: that a well-run Zambian SME deserves a fair shot at credit. What we set out to build was a borrower experience rooted in understanding the business first – the cash flows, the cycle, the growth potential – and structuring around that.”
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