Our Impact

Helios' Investment Impact in Africa

Helios believes that the firm’s greatest contribution to regional development comes from building profitable, value-creating, and socially responsible private enterprises.

Investing capital in African businesses increases opportunity and advances economic well-being, making domestic prospects increasingly attractive. Furthermore, the multiplier effect of creating economic opportunity within our businesses means that many more lives are touched through supply chains.

To capture the many ways in which our investments not only contribute to economic growth, but create lasting positive social and environmental benefits as well, we have identified six key themes that highlight our impact:

Investing in domestic productive capacity
Putting entrepreneurs in business
Building the next generation of leaders
Fostering financial inclusion and deepening
Improving access to cleaner energy
Fostering sustainable communities and cities

Scale amplifies the impact of the capital we put to work…

We have invested over $3 billion in African businesses
Since 2008, during our ownership Helios portfolio companies have
- Generated over $9 billion in revenue
- Added over 9,000 new jobs

Building the next generation of leaders

Vivo Energy has developed best-in-class programs to upskill employees on technical and functional skills, as well as leadership and soft skills across all levels; the programs deployed in all 23 countries in which Vivo Energy operates. Over the 18 months to September 2019, Vivo Energy trained 386 employees on technical and functional skills, and 136 employees on leadership and soft skills
Interswitch has provided scholarships to 19 promising Nigerians to participate in the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology program which trains and develops skills that deepen the technology talent pool in West Africa

Next Generation of Leaders

Fostering financial inclusion and deepening

Interswitch supports the shift to cashless economies: it has processed over 3 billion electronic transactions since Nigeria’s cashless policy was launched in January 2012
Crown Agents Bank provides services to one quarter of the world’s 85 low and lower middle-income countries, many unserved by other players in the global banking system. Over the last 18 months, it has helped facilitate over 5,000 development finance transactions and over $2 billion in diaspora remittance flows

Fostering Financial Inclusion

Improving access to cleaner energy

Helios Towers has reduced carbon footprint of its operations while improving reliability and efficiency of its energy supply through solar and hybrid technologies, The company has completed a total of over 600 hybrid and 400 solar site conversions, which translates into c.700,000 liters of diesel saved through energy efficiencies each quarter
Customers switching to gas (provided by Axxela) from other fuel sources reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 32% and virtually eliminate sulphur oxide emissions. Axxela currently serves over 180 industrial clients, including some of the country’s largest local and multinational companies

Improving Access to Cleaner Energy

Fostering sustainable communities and cities

Installation of the Starsight solution at a commercial enterprise results in the elimination of grid power use and a 50% reduction in diesel generator use. This has the effect of reducing each site’s greenhouse gas footprint by 42.7 tons per year on average
Helios Towers Nigeria (HTN), Africa’s first telco co-locator allowed multiple operators to be housed on a single tower, reducing tower proliferation. HTN implemented stringent measures to minimize adverse impact of its operations, including executing detailed process for EIA assessments, introducing electromagnetic field exposure management, and replacing diesel storage tanks at mast sites with double skin containment to prevent risk of soil and ground water contamination