HEVA (the evergreen GP) manages HPCIF — a $125M blended-finance platform structured as two layers: a $100M commercial fund (CIF $70M equity + CLF-senior $30M revolving debt) anchored by a $25M catalytic shell (CCF $15M grants + CLF-first-loss $10M, providing a 25% first-loss cushion / 4:1 leverage). Three ring-fenced facilities. 4:1 private-to-concessional leverage — every $1 catalytic mobilises $4 commercial. 5.0× on the $125M platform.
Projected · HPCIF Financial Model v12.0 (Feb 2026) · not a guarantee; actual returns may be materially lower or negative. See PPM Part C.
HEVA (the evergreen GP, founded 2013) manages HPCIF — an evergreen creative-capital platform that permanently recycles capital into Africa's creative economy. Inside that evergreen platform, three distinct closed-end sub-vehicles are now in active fundraising. These vehicles are HEVA's three pillars made financeable: the Creative Capacity Facility (CCF) is HEVA's Technical Assistance / catalytic pillar — grant capital, first-loss protection, and investment-readiness support. The Creative Liquidity Facility (CLF) is HEVA's Liquidity pillar — a revolving working-capital facility that recycles 4.85× over 10 years, generating 5–7% annual liquidity and genuine evergreen mechanics at the debt layer. The Creative Investment Fund (CIF) is HEVA's Equity / growth pillar — a 10-year closed-end fund structured as a Mauritius Limited Partnership, targeting 18% net IRR.
The ring-fencing is legally enforced — no cross-collateralisation, no cross-liability between CCF, CLF, and CIF. A loss in one facility cannot propagate to another. Each facility has its own governance committee, its own investor base, and its own return profile. A DFI entering the CLF as a senior lender takes no equity risk. An LP entering the CIF takes no exposure to the CLF credit book. All three sub-vehicles are closed-ended: the CCF is a closed-ended catalytic/grant sub-vehicle (matching the programmatic approach of its donor base); the CLF is a closed-ended credit facility (10-year term with revolving mechanics during the availability period); the CIF is a closed-end Mauritius LP with a 10-year term and a European whole-fund waterfall. The "evergreen" characterisation applies to HEVA (the GP) and to the HPCIF platform — not to the individual sub-vehicles currently in active fundraising.
The CCF is the catalytic anchor of the HPCIF platform. It provides grant capital, technical assistance (TA), and first-loss protection — the instruments that make the commercial tranches (CLF senior, CIF equity) investable for institutional capital. Without the CCF first-loss buffer, the CLF's senior lenders would bear the full default risk of an unproven asset class. The CCF absorbs that risk in a dedicated, ring-fenced vehicle funded by donors whose mandate is exactly this: de-risking private capital into frontier markets.
The CCF also funds technical assistance to creative enterprises — the financial-literacy, governance, and reporting-standards work that makes borrowers creditworthy for the CLF. This is not charity; it is pipeline development. Every CCF-supported enterprise that achieves creditworthiness is a potential CLF borrower or CIF investment.
CCF capital deploys exclusively across the 5 OECD-DAC entry markets — anchored in ECOWAS (Nigeria · Ghana), UEMOA/XOF zone (Senegal · Côte d'Ivoire), and EAC (Kenya) — and is fully ODA-eligible, with creative-economy reach extending across their regional blocs. The A4FM scoping award (May 2026) validates the CCF's ODA-corridor strategy. South Africa is not an eligible CCF market — CCF catalytic and grant capital do not deploy there.
The CLF is the working-capital engine of HPCIF. It delivers short-tenor revolving credit — structured around the actual cash-flow cycles of creative enterprises: a film production cycle (pre-production, production, delivery, distribution), a music-release marketing window, a fashion-season order fulfillment timeline. The 120-day average tenor and $150K average ticket size are derived from HEVA's Ota Kopa product, which has been deployed at smaller scale across Kenya's creative sector.
The CLF is the evergreen engine of the HPCIF platform. Structured as a revolving facility, capital cycles back after each loan repayment, generating $193M in cumulative disbursements over 10 years from a $40M base — 4.83× recycling. The 120-day average tenor and constant repayment flow produce 5–7% annual liquidity, making the CLF the source of HEVA's authentic "evergreen" mechanics: capital that recycles, never locked on a fixed exit clock. Self-sufficiency at 1.50× means the facility covers its own operating costs without ongoing subsidy.
The Afreximbank CLF application (Ref: HEVA-AFREX-CLF-001/25) requests $25M of the CLF senior tranche as a revolving facility with a 10-year tenor (7-year availability period + 3-year amortisation). Afreximbank's existing creative-economy model already includes senior lines of credit on-lent through intermediaries — structurally identical to how HPCIF's CLF operates. The CLF first-loss tranche ($10M) sits beneath the Afreximbank senior, absorbing the first losses before the bank's capital is at risk — providing a 25% first-loss cushion on the total CLF book.
Projected · HPCIF Financial Model v12.0 (Feb 2026) · not a guarantee; actual returns may be materially lower or negative. See PPM Part C.
The CIF is the equity engine of HPCIF — HEVA's Equity / Growth pillar made financeable at institutional scale. One principle governs every CIF transaction: IP retained by creators — always. HEVA does not take IP ownership as a condition of investment. Creators retain the rights to their work; the CIF holds equity in the commercial enterprise, not in the underlying creative assets. This is HEVA's signature commitment and a genuine differentiator from extractive creative-economy capital. The CIF deploys growth equity and quasi-equity into the most scalable creative enterprises anchored in 5 OECD-DAC entry markets — ECOWAS (Nigeria · Ghana), UEMOA/XOF zone (Senegal · Côte d'Ivoire), and EAC (Kenya) — with creative-economy reach across their regional blocs. South Africa enters in Phase 2 (Southern Africa) as commercial CIF equity only — not funded by CCF or A4FM-eligible capital (grant capital stays within ODA-eligible markets). The CIF is structured as a closed-end Limited Partnership with a 10-year term (+2×1-yr extensions), a 5-year investment period, and a European whole-fund waterfall. Domiciled in Mauritius, managed by HEVA General Partner Ltd.
The CIF's bifurcated return structure is the architecture's most sophisticated element. Senior LPs (71% of the CIF / $50M) target a 12% IRR with a 6.0% p.a. compounded preferred return and a European (whole-fund) waterfall — institutional-grade return protection. Catalytic junior LPs (29% / $20M) preserve a 1.02× return, meaning their capital is preserved, not consumed. The junior tranche absorbs the first equity losses before senior LP capital is affected, enabling senior LPs to price at institutional return requirements.
All CIF return figures are from HPCIF Financial Model v12.0 (February 2026), as cited in PPM Part A and Investment Thesis v2. These are projections, not guarantees. The gross IRR before fees and carry is 22%; net IRR after 2% management fee (years 1–5 on commitments) and 20% carry is 18%.
The alternative considered and rejected: a single-instrument fund that pools grant, debt, and equity into one vehicle. That structure forces every LP into the same risk/return profile — and structurally excludes mandate-bound capital. A foundation with an ODA grant mandate cannot sit in the same pool as a commercial senior lender. An IFC-style DFI with a senior-debt mandate cannot be converted to equity exposure. The single-vehicle model would have narrowed the investor base to one type, reducing total fundraisable capital and eliminating the catalytic de-risking function.
The trade accepted: more governance complexity — three committees (IC, CRSC, CEDC), three ring-fenced legal entities, three separate investor bases — in exchange for one structure, four native entry doors. IFC or Afreximbank enters via the CLF senior tranche (their native instrument: senior revolving credit). A DFI foundation enters via the CCF (grant/ODA capital, fully eligible). A commercial LP enters via the CIF senior tranche (equity, 12% target IRR). Proparco enters via the CIF junior or the CCF, depending on mandate configuration. Each counterparty enters through the instrument designed for them, at the terms their mandate requires, in the same platform. No one is forced into a structure that doesn't match their risk/return framework. That is why three facilities.
The bifurcated return structure allows institutional LPs to enter the CIF at a 12% senior return target — institutional-grade — while catalytic capital (the junior 29%) absorbs first equity losses and preserves 1.02× for impact-mandate investors. The architecture makes the CIF accessible to both commercial institutional capital and DFI/foundation mandate capital, in the same vehicle, at the same time.
Source: HPCIF Financial Model v12.0, February 2026 (Sheet 11B_CIF_WATERFALL). Figures are projections. GP: HEVA General Partner Ltd. Managed fees: 2.0% p.a. (years 1–5 on commitments), transitioning to NAV basis thereafter.
Projected · HPCIF Financial Model v12.0 (Feb 2026) · not a guarantee; actual returns may be materially lower or negative. See PPM Part C.
Each HPCIF facility is governed by a dedicated committee with clear decision authority. The Investment Committee (IC) governs all CIF equity decisions with a majority of independent members, ensuring LP interests are protected and conflicts are managed. The Credit and Risk Steering Committee (CRSC) governs CLF credit decisions with separate risk oversight. The Catalytic / Eligibility and Deployment Committee (CEDC) governs CCF grant and first-loss deployments with ODA-eligibility verification.
The LPAC (LP Advisory Committee, 5–7 members representing major LPs and DFIs) oversees conflicts of interest, valuation, and reserved matters across the platform. It provides LPs with structured governance rights without requiring individual LP involvement in day-to-day investment decisions. The GP / Manager Board provides platform-level oversight.
George Gachara is a creative industry strategist, fund advisor, and investor in African creative sectors. He is the Founding Partner of HEVA Fund LLP, which he founded in 2013 and grew from an initial $10,000 commitment to over $40 million deployed. He serves as Director of Canex Creations, an Afrexim Bank venture capital fund, and holds an honorary entrepreneurship fellowship at Goldsmiths University of London. Over more than a decade he has established and managed catalytic funds including HEVA Fund LLP, Ignite Fund, the Netflix Creative Equity Scholarship Program (East Africa), and Thrive Fund, while advising institutions including Afrexim Bank and Mastercard Foundation on creative industries financing. He has more than 12 years of experience in creative industries strategy and advises the Government of Kenya, the African Union, and the British Council. His time commitment to HPCIF is 25%.
Venture funding professional with expertise in early-stage financing, strategic analysis, and due diligence. Formerly Executive Director at the East Africa Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (EAVCA) and founder of Preneur Today, a platform highlighting female entrepreneurs. Board member of World Bicycle Relief, Viktoria Business Angels, GrowthAfrica, and ASSEK.
Arts and cultural development advocate with over 10 years of experience across nonprofit, government, and private sectors in the creative industries. Co-founder of the Bafundi Film and TV Festival and currently Director at Andani.Africa, a research and advisory firm specialising in creative and cultural industries.
Economist with more than 15 years of experience in African international development and SME finance. Led the African Development Bank's Fashionomics Africa initiative supporting women and youth-owned fashion SMEs across the continent, and has consistently integrated digital economy perspectives and platform technologies to advance financial inclusion.
The Advisory Board provides strategic guidance across legal, impact, and creative-sector dimensions. It does not have investment decision authority. A fourth member is to be confirmed.
Key-person note: HEVA's investment origination and creative-sector network are dependent on George Gachara and Pam Mutembei. The LPA includes customary key-person provisions with LP suspension rights. Full bios available in the data room.
HPCIF applies a proportionate ESMS aligned to internationally recognised standards. All three facilities operate under the same ESMS framework, applied proportionately to investment size, sector, and counterparty type.
The First Close of $32.5M represents the catalytic anchor: CIF Junior Tranche ($20M) + CLF First-Loss ($7.5M) + CCF Year 1–2 ($5M). These are the three instruments that de-risk the commercial tranches for subsequent close investors. Cornerstone commitments from DFIs and foundations at First Close set the structural terms for the Final Close commercial senior tranches.
The timeline is driven by three external anchors: the Afreximbank CLF senior application (submitted, Ref: HEVA-AFREX-CLF-001/25, $25M revolving); the A4FM scoping phase completion (post-May 2026 award); and active dialogues with AFD/Proparco and Mastercard Foundation. Q2 2027 is the post-scoping First Close target — it supersedes the prior Q2 2026 target from the February 2026 harmonised documents.
Request access to the full data room — PPM v3, Financial Model v12.0, Investment Thesis v2, PKF-audited HEVA financials (FY2024).