TriLinc Global Impact Fund has approved Helios Investment Partners to act as its sub-advisor on term loan investment opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Gloria Nelund, TriLinc’s CEO, said: “Recognizing the exciting investment and impact opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa, TriLinc has further deepened its activities in the region by complementing its trade finance portfolio with term loan capabilities.”

“Thanks to Helios’ investment experience in the region and well-seasoned credit team, this partnership provides for a thrilling development in matching US investor capital with fast growing and highly impactful enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa,” she said.

TriLinc is an impact investing fund that provides growth-stage loans and trade finance to established small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in developing economies where access to affordable capital is significantly limited.

Impact investing is defined as investing with the specific objective of achieving a competitive financial return as well as creating positive, measurable impact on people and communities across the globe.

TriLinc complements its global macroeconomic portfolio optimization and management with investment services from experienced sub-advisors that have solid track records in target asset classes and geographies, and ample access to high-quality investment pipelines.

Tope Lawani, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Helios, said: “We are excited about this partnership with TriLinc as the initiative will encourage the growth of Sub-Saharan African companies by providing appropriately structured, flexible, commercially viable and otherwise fit-for-purpose credit.”

Helios is an Africa-focused private investment firm managing funds totaling over $3bn.

Established in 2004, led and managed by a predominantly African team and based in London, Nigeria, and Kenya, Helios has completed investments in countries across the African continent.

Helios’ portfolio companies operate in more than 35 countries in all regions of the continent, and the firm’s diverse investor base comprises a broad range of the world’s leading investors, including sovereign wealth funds, corporate and public pension funds, endowments and foundations, funds of funds, family offices and development finance institutions across the US, Europe, Asia and Africa.

The Helios credit team’s senior members collectively have more than 55 years of investment experience in institutional lending, debt structuring, trading and risk management with previous tenures at leading financial institutions including Standard Chartered, Bank of America, Citibank and Renaissance Capital and have completed over $4.2bn in debt transactions across Africa.

These investment professionals lead the Helios credit team’s disciplined loan structuring and diligent risk management processes and procedures to create attractive investment and impact opportunities for TriLinc’s term loan strategy throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.

Helios’ regional networks will support the credit team’s mandate to provide financing to companies not well-served by banks or equity investors.

Babatunde Soyoye, Helios Managing Partner and Co-Founder, added: “As a result of current market conditions, limited debt capital availability is constraining the growth of private enterprise. TriLinc is a uniquely catalytic partner as it mobilizes capital from US investors interested in generating competitive risk-adjusted returns from Sub-Saharan African enterprises that have lasting and long-term positive impacts on their respective economies and communities.”