The Third Way

ThirdWay Capital invests to achieve complete returns. We project market-related returns for our investors because we invest in businesses that are positioned to create significant value that can be sustained over time: contributing to, rather than extracting from, people and the planet.

The Third Way

Who We Are

We are a venture holding company that invests in growth-ready SME’s (Small-Medium Enterprises) that are shaping the African story. We deliver complete returns – financial and societal.

African SME’s provide 80% of African jobs, and are the key to building a vibrant economy on the continent. However, SME’s continue to remain under-funded, with limited access to affordable growth capital, resulting in the ‘missing middle’.

Africa has a large, young workforce, a rapidly growing consumer class, and represents a massive market in global terms. Yet because Africa remains opaque to investors, capital flow into the region tends towards large investments that offer quick exits. All this hampers the SME sector.

ThirdWay Capital bridges this gap, providing experienced, boots-on-the-ground intelligence to guide investments, and strategic capital and advisory support to SME founders who have proven their ability to grow businesses that demonstrate the readiness to transform socio-economic systems at scale.

What We Do

We resource strong growth, high impact SME’s in Africa

We invest $300k-$1M into growth-ready SME’s that have a strong capacity for scale and impact. Working on the ground and close to the action, our diverse and experienced team combines local knowledge and strong strategic expertise with financial investment to support high potential SME’s in Africa.

We generate complete returns for all stakeholders

We take a long-horizon approach so that our investments will deliver sustainable, superior value to all stakeholders in the value chain: customers, employees, investors, and communities at large – economic, social, and environmental prosperity.

We leverage international and regional experience

Our diverse and seasoned team has deep expertise on four continents, including Africa, allowing us to serve as a reliable bridge into the continent for investors, and to identify, select and guide high-potential, growth-ready SME’s.

We catalyze transformative business practices

We continuously seek out best practices, share knowledge, and build partnerships to scale the transformative power of business. In particular we prioritize employee ownership, an approach proven to reduce inequalities and increase company performance.

We focus on key areas of systems change, not sectors

We align our investments with five key Impact Targets and six Investment Themes that we believe are essential drivers of long-term transformation in Africa in the coming decade (see below)

Target Impacts

We invest in African SMEs that are unlocking the transformative power of business – generating economic, social, and environmental prosperity. We believe success is the complete delivery of key social impact and market-rate returns. To achieve this, we actively measure the performance of each of our portfolio companies in these 5 key impact areas.

Job Creation/Employment

Permanent employment drives multiple dimensions of family and community well-being.

Social Capital

The ability of once-marginalized individuals and communities to exercise economic agency.

Sustainable Value Chains

The potential of the business to generate or accelerate a scalable business ecosystem that contributes to a sustainable economy.

Consumer & Societal Value

The innovation of products and services that contribute to human flourishing in a healthy environment.

Resource Stewardship

SMEs with business operations characterized by disciplined resource management.

Investment Themes

Strengthening the African continent’s socio-economic vitality depends on SME growth in the following five areas.

Exporting Africa

Tapping the growing global and pan-African demand for a wide range of African products

Import Substitution

Localized production of previously imported products with proven local demand.

The Green Economy

Products and services that contribute to the flourishing of the natural environment.

Private-Sector Social Services

Responding to limited national resources and political will by effectively providing key social services to Africa’s growing middle class

Formalizing the Informal Sector

Large “informal” sectors across the continent will be forced to embrace formalization by both governments and consumers.

The Digital Economy

Significant growth is expected in the digital economy on the back of increased mobile penetration and internet connectivity.