Capital is available, but only structure makes it deployable. Nclude has closed a fund backed overwhelmingly by African institutions, mineral projects are still negotiating or assembling finance, and global deals are using special-purpose vehicles and PIPE capital to connect assets with investors.
Nclude closes with African institutions behind the capital
DPI Venture Capital’s Nclude Fund reached a final close above US$112 million to invest in fintech, embedded finance and related businesses across Africa and the Middle East. African investors supplied 93% of the capital. The close is significant because it places African institutional money behind African technology through a dedicated vehicle; the next test is disciplined portfolio construction and follow-on support.
Orion’s mineral opportunities remain negotiations, not investments
US-backed Orion CMC was reported on 26 October to be in advanced talks over Tanzania’s Kabanga nickel and cobalt project and a cobalt opportunity in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Advanced discussions are not completed investments. Ownership terms, government approvals, infrastructure, offtake and funding still need to converge.
Longonjo shows the cost of finance arriving late
Pensana moved the expected production start at Angola’s Longonjo rare-earth project to early 2028 while project financing remains incomplete. The asset may be strategic, but the schedule only becomes credible when the capital stack, construction plan and customer commitments work together.
Anthropic’s compute finance puts asset protection inside the debt
Bank of America, Citi, Morgan Stanley and Blackstone announced US$63 billion of financing for a special-purpose vehicle that will buy Broadcom AI equipment and lease it to Anthropic. Senior and second-lien claims, together with Broadcom residual-value support, show how lenders are allocating the asset and obsolescence risk inside the structure.
Corxel combines a SPAC route with committed PIPE capital
Corxel Pharmaceuticals agreed to go public through a merger with Amanat Acquisition Corp. The transaction is expected to provide about US$377 million, including US$300 million committed by institutional investors through a concurrent PIPE. The deal is targeted to close in the first half of 2027; committed capital supports the route but does not remove closing and clinical execution risk.
What the structure tells us
Africa’s transactions show the distance between capital raised and assets delivered. Nclude has crossed final close, Orion remains in negotiation and Longonjo is still rebuilding the financing route behind its timetable. Each stage calls for a different management response.
The global structures make the risk allocation visible. Anthropic’s financing isolates equipment and ranks creditor claims; Corxel combines a merger route with committed PIPE capital. That is why 0to1 follows the transaction rather than only the headline.
transactions · venture capital · fintech · critical minerals · project finance · structured finance · SPAC · PIPE