TLG Capital closes $5 million credit facility for Zambian SME lender Shona Capital

TLG Capital, a London-based private credit fund manager focused on sub-Saharan Africa, has closed a $5 million debt facility for Shona Capital Zambia Limited, a Lusaka-based SME lender founded in March 2025. The deal marks TLG’s first investment in Zambia and expands its African footprint to 21 countries.

The facility was deployed from TLG’s Africa Growth Impact Fund II (AGIF II), which is anchored by institutional investors, including the IFC, Norfund, Swedfund, and Bpifrance. Capital will be released in tranches as Shona Zambia scales its loan book, with additional guarantors and institutional partners expected to join as the transaction grows. TLG is also Shona Zambia’s first institutional backer.

Shona Zambia operates in the $10,000–$100,000 lending range, targeting businesses that fall outside the reach of both microfinance institutions and commercial banks, either too large for the former or insufficiently documented for the latter. The company says it can disburse loans within five days, compared to several weeks for traditional lenders. It uses a proprietary technology platform to conduct credit assessments, manage disbursements, and monitor portfolio performance in real time.

The lender currently serves SMEs in healthcare, retail, and agriculture and reports a pipeline of over 1,000 potential borrowers. Its leadership team — CEO Kayinja Mfuni, Muze Syachaba, and Micheil Banoub brings a combined 45 years of banking and microfinance experience in Zambia.

The investment targets what TLG describes as a $2 billion SME financing gap in Zambia. Access to formal credit remains a persistent constraint for small businesses across sub-Saharan Africa. The World Bank estimates that the financing gap for formal and informal SMEs across the continent runs into the hundreds of billions of dollars, with Zambia among the markets where collateral requirements and documentation gaps lock out otherwise viable businesses.

Isha Doshi, Co-Founder and Partner at TLG Capital, pointed to Zambia’s recent macroeconomic stabilisation as part of the investment rationale: “Zambia is going through a strong recovery: 94% of external debt renegotiated, a Fitch upgrade, and copper prices buoying growth. But capital has been slow to follow.”

Mfuni said the facility was structured around how the company actually operates. “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.”

Beyond capital, TLG will provide operational support to Shona Zambia, including governance oversight, ESG monitoring, and quarterly business reviews under AGIF II’s value creation framework.

TLG Capital has made over 50 investments and 30 exits across more than 20 African countries since its founding in 2012.

Last updated: April 9, 2026