Manufacturing Africa helps 23 Nigerian firms secure $630m

The UK Government-backed Manufacturing Africa programme has supported 23 Nigerian businesses to reach financial close on investments worth more than $630m, transactions that have the potential to create or safeguard over 21,400 direct jobs.

The figures were disclosed at an event in Lagos on Monday attended by British High Commissioner Pete Vowles, British Deputy High Commissioner Jonny Baxter, business leaders, investors, government representatives and development partners.

The programme, funded by the UK Government through the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, has worked with Nigerian businesses since 2019 to improve their investment readiness and connect them with potential sources of capital.

In Nigeria, Manufacturing Africa has supported 72 investment opportunities since its establishment, with 23 reaching financial close. The programme described the transactions as part of its broader effort to help businesses expand operations, attract capital and generate employment.

Baxter highlighted the scale of the investment mobilised through the programme and the businesses that had reached financial close.

“I am delighted to celebrate six years of the UK’s Manufacturing Africa programme and recognise the 23 Nigerian businesses it has supported,” the British Deputy High Commissioner in Lagos said.

“Together, these transactions have mobilised more than $630m in investment and have the potential to create or safeguard over 21,400 direct jobs, demonstrating the programme’s contribution to economic growth.”

The event also marked the launch of a free fundraising toolkit designed to help businesses prepare for fundraising, engage investors and navigate the process of securing capital.

The digital resource brings together practical guidance, investor insights, templates and other tools based on Manufacturing Africa’s experience supporting businesses across African markets.

Baxter described the toolkit as one of the programme’s key legacies, saying it would allow businesses to continue benefiting from lessons gathered from transactions supported over the past six years.

“The Fundraising Toolkit we launched tonight is one of the programme’s most important legacies,” he said. “It captures practical lessons from these success stories and will continue to equip Nigerian businesses with tools, insights, and connections they need to attract investment, raise capital and scale, long after the programme has ended.”

He added that the investment facilitation work was also strengthening commercial ties between Nigeria and the UK.

“I’m proud of what we have achieved together. By supporting businesses to unlock investment, expand operations and create jobs, this partnership is strengthening the UK-Nigeria relationship and creating opportunities for long-term growth in both our countries,” Baxter said.

The toolkit is based on more than six years of investment facilitation across Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania and Senegal. Manufacturing Africa said its experience covered more than 300 investment opportunities and over 70 financial closes, with insights from more than 23 international investors, including development finance institutions, private equity firms and impact investors.

Rather than serving as a conventional fundraising guide, the programme said the resource draws on actual transactions and provides frameworks, templates and recommendations reflecting how investment deals are structured, negotiated and completed in African markets.

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The British High Commissioner Vowles pointed to the importance of helping businesses move from identifying potential sources of finance to actually accessing commercial capital.

“It’s great to see companies coming together, figuring out how to access commercial finance, so they can then grow their businesses,” Vowles said.

“I’m really interested to hear what they have done and how they are going to use the new toolkit to continue and promote what they are doing for other companies to grow their businesses because that would be where we get real success.”

For Manufacturing Africa, the toolkit is intended to extend the programme’s impact beyond the individual companies it has directly supported.

Team Leader at Manufacturing Africa, Thomas Pascoe, described the launch as a milestone for the programme, noting that the resource consolidates lessons from years of helping companies prepare for and complete fundraising transactions.

“The launch of the Fundraising Toolkit marks an important milestone for Manufacturing Africa. It brings together more than six years of practical fundraising experience, including the tools, insights and lessons that have helped businesses across the continent navigate the fundraising process and secure investment,” Pascoe said.

He pointed to the 23 Nigerian businesses that had reached financial close with support from the programme.

“We are also celebrating 23 Nigerian businesses that have successfully reached financial close with support from Manufacturing Africa, raising close to $630m in total,” he said.

“Their achievements demonstrate what is possible when businesses have access to the right tools, guidance and connections to capital. Many of the approaches that supported these fundraising journeys are now captured in the Toolkit, a first-of-its-kind resource in Africa.”

Manufacturing Africa was established in 2019 with a mandate to support industrial growth and attract investment into African businesses. The programme operates in six markets: Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania and Senegal.

Across those markets, it has supported more than 300 companies and built an investment pipeline valued at more than £12 billion, according to the programme. Its implementing partners include McKinsey and BDO.

Manufacturing Africa said it has helped mobilise more than £2 billion in foreign direct investment, exceeding its original £1.2 billion target, while supporting the creation of more than 150,000 direct and indirect jobs. It said 43 per cent of those jobs benefit women.

The programme has also worked with major investors, including development finance institutions and private equity funds, to assess investment opportunities in East and West Africa.

In Nigeria, the programme’s 23 completed transactions form part of that wider investment pipeline, with more than $630 million mobilised through those deals providing capital for companies seeking to expand and scale.

Pascoe said the next phase would focus on making the knowledge accumulated through those transactions available to a broader pool of businesses.

“Our ambition is to make this practical resource accessible to more businesses, helping them strengthen their investment readiness, engage investors with greater confidence and unlock the capital they need to grow,” he said.