Shona Zambia at Impact Capital Africa InvestFest 2026

Impact Capital Africa

Impact Capital Africa exists to increase the flow of capital between impact investors and growth-focused businesses across Sub-Saharan Africa. They work across the full investment process; from identifying and preparing SMEs for investment, to connecting them with the right investors, to gathering the whole ecosystem in one room.

InvestFest brings together investors, entrepreneurs, and the organisations building the infrastructure that makes deals possible. For anyone working in the SME financing space in Zambia, it is one of the most important conversations happening in the market right now.

Our CEO Kayinja Mfuni represented Shona Zambia on the panel, speaking to our credit process and our approach to SME lending. What came through the whole discussion was something we believe deeply; that the gap between available capital and the businesses that need it is rarely just about money. It is about trust, relationships, and structures that are built for the markets they are meant to serve, not imported from somewhere else.

Shona Zambia

Shona Zambia only began operations at the end of 2025. We are a young institution, but we came into this market with a clear purpose, to go beyond just providing financing and to be a genuine partner to the SMEs we work with. Being on that panel, alongside established investors and ecosystem players, was an important moment for us. It showed that even as a new entrant, we are already part of the conversation that shapes how capital moves to entrepreneurs in Zambia.

A practical example of that is the TLG facility Shona Zambia accesses. It is kwacha-denominated, affordable, and structured for the Zambian market. That kind of arrangement does not happen without the right partnerships. The first-loss backing from KSI made it possible for an international fund to get comfortable lending to us at a scale and on terms that genuinely work for our borrowers.

For Shona Zambia, being at InvestFest was about more than one panel. It was about being visible in the spaces where entrepreneurs, investors, and business support providers come together. As we grow, we want to be a bridge that connects the SMEs we finance with the wider ecosystem of support they need to thrive. Events like this help us build those connections and find the partners who share that vision.

We are grateful to Impact Capital Africa for the platform!