C4I MENA Fund I is a blended finance fund investing in high-growth SMEs and financial inclusion businesses across the Middle East and North Africa. The fund targets companies that expand access to finance, education, and essential services for underserved communities, with a mandatory gender lens applied across the entire portfolio.
Structured as a blended finance vehicle, the fund combines first-loss capital from Capital 4 Impact Foundation with commercial investor capital, delivering market-conform, risk-adjusted returns alongside verified social and environmental impact. The fund is classified as Article 9 under the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).
Enabling the missing middle of SMEs to grow in MENA
Small and medium-sized enterprises are the backbone of emerging economies. They create the majority of jobs, serve communities that large corporations overlook, and drive the local innovation that builds long-term economic resilience. Yet access to appropriate finance remains their single biggest barrier to growth.
In the Middle East and North Africa, the financing gap for SMEs is estimated at over USD 250 billion. Banks require collateral that most small business owners do not have. Traditional investors find ticket sizes too small and risk too high. The result is a vast pool of viable, high-potential businesses that cannot grow simply because capital does not reach them.
Capital 4 Impact invests directly into this gap. We back SMEs with strong fundamentals and clear social impact potential, providing the growth capital they need to scale, hire, and serve more customers. Through the Plan International network, we source opportunities that others cannot find, conduct due diligence that goes beyond financial statements, and support portfolio companies with the governance and reporting capacity that prepares them for future investment.
Every SME we invest in is a multiplier. A growing business creates jobs. Jobs generate household income. Household income funds education, healthcare, and better nutrition. That chain of outcomes is what we mean when we talk about impact at scale, and it starts with getting capital to the right business at the right moment.
Value proposition to SMEs and investors
We offer an incentive aligned mezzanine financing to SMEs and enable them to grow and with a high degree of first loss capital, investors have significant economic protection.