AfroRanking · Capital Advisory
Bankability audit: find out whether a financier will back your project
You hold contracts, your clients pay, the operation runs. You still do not know whether a bank, a fund or a development finance institution will put money into it, and every meeting taken too early closes a door. A bankability audit settles it in one 60-minute session and a written note you keep.
Book a bankability audit (60 min)
Six scored axes, your blockers ranked, a dated roadmap.
The problem
Your project stands up, a financier has no idea
The risk sits in your timing. A financier who turns you down remembers you, and the same file brought back later starts with a handicap. Five blockers burn credibility, and you can clear every one of them before the first meeting.
- Real contracts, none of them secured. With no framework agreement and no term, the lender sees turnover and no contracted revenue behind it.
- A business plan a foreign investor cannot read. One scenario, no debt service calculated, and the analyst closes the file.
- No data room. Your documents sit with the accountant and in inboxes. Due diligence stops there.
- A vague structure. You ask for an amount without stating your own contribution, your security, or the lender’s way out.
- An empty pipeline. Two local banks said no, and that passes for a funding search.
Every one of them can be cleared. A bankability audit tells you which ones apply to you and which ones sink your file as long as they stand.
The offer
A bankability audit scores the six axes a financier looks at
During the bankability audit we read your file the way a credit committee will. Every axis gets its own score, because an average hides the dead spot that blocks the whole financing.
Secured contracts and revenue
Term, volumes, indexation, penalties, assignment of receivables. Does your revenue hold up in front of a lender?
Financial model and debt service
Your DSCR across the loan tenor, the break-even point, two downside scenarios.
CAPEX and OPEX backed by quotes
Every line tied to a dated supplier quote, freight and commissioning included.
Governance, company and title
Articles, shareholding, share register, agreements with your other activities.
Sector licences and permits
Transport, mining, environment. An expired permit ends a due diligence in a day.
Market and client book
Corridor, competition, share of your largest client in turnover. Concentration is paid for in basis points.
What you receive
What a bankability audit puts in your hands
We close the bankability audit with three documents, sent after the session. You keep them whatever happens next.
The bankability note
You know where you stand.
- Your position on each of the six axes
- Your blockers ranked from the most serious down
- What a committee will hold against you on first reading
The roadmap
You know what to fix, and in what order.
- The fixes to secure before your first meeting
- The sequence, since some fixes depend on others
- A deadline per workstream, to hold a raise calendar
The capital target
You know who to talk to.
- The funding layers that are realistic for your ticket
- The direct ticket floor of each layer
- The commitment target to aim for, 1.5 to 2 times the need
Ticket floors decide for you. Direct DFI debt starts around €3m, an institutional equity fund moves from €1m, quasi-equity around €200k. Below that you work the local bank from €50k, diaspora investors and business angels around €25k, leasing from €10k. A bankability audit places your ticket on that scale before you write to your first fund.
Next step: capital advisory
If the note holds, the mandate starts. Investment Readiness, running the raise, structuring through to closing.
The process
Your bankability audit, from first document to your decision
The audit runs in six short steps. You decide at the end, with a document in hand.
Contracts, articles, accounts, quotes, permits.
The six axes walked through with you.
We read your contracts and your model again.
Your score per axis and your blockers.
We go through the note with you.
You start the mandate, or you do not.
The benefit
What you gain by running the bankability audit now
You stop guessing, and you stop paying for your trial runs in credibility.
- You keep your credibility. The note tells you when to show up, and spares you the rejections that leave a mark with a financier.
- You gain weeks. The Investment Readiness base takes 4 to 6 weeks, then 3 to 4 months of approaching financiers. Every fix made upfront shortens that calendar.
- You aim straight. You approach the layers that genuinely fund your ticket, instead of writing to funds whose floor rules you out.
- You leave with a plan. The roadmap serves you even if the rest happens without us, and another adviser can pick it up.
- You know what the next step costs. On a full mandate, our pay comes through a success fee of 5 to 7 per cent on funds received at closing.
We work as advisers and structurers. We collect no funds and we promise no outcome. The financier decides to invest, and you decide whether to accept their terms.
Where to go next
Where to go after a bankability audit
The path keeps the same order: bankability audit, then capital structure and funding sources, then the data room, then leasing as the fastest layer to switch on.
Capital advisory
The full offer: Investment Readiness, running the raise, structuring and closing.
Fundraising
The whole journey, from the first trade-offs to a term sheet.
Project funding sources in Africa
The capital layers, their floors and the order in which to approach them.
Investor data room
The documents expected and the mistakes that stretch a due diligence.
Equipment finance in Africa
Leasing, vendor finance and partial guarantees to fund a fleet.
Frequent questions
Your questions about the bankability audit
What documents do I send before a bankability audit?
Your live contracts and purchase orders, the articles of association and the share register, the latest financial statements, equipment quotes and sector permits. Anything missing does not block the session: each absent document becomes a line on your roadmap.
Is the bankability audit paid, and how much does it cost?
Yes, on a fixed fee, quoted before the session and written into the engagement letter. The amount depends on how many contracts we read and on the sector. When you carry on into a full mandate, we deduct that fee from the upfront fees.
What happens if my project is not bankable?
You learn it in 60 minutes instead of discovering it after a run of rejections. The note says why, and what is missing. The blockage often comes down to two or three documents: a framework contract to sign, a partial guarantee to obtain, equity to evidence.
Do I need signed contracts already?
No, though your contracts axis will score lower. A project with no client commitment gets funded by equity, quasi-equity or asset-backed leasing, rarely by senior debt. If you hold letters of intent, bring them: they count.
Do you work outside Guinea?
Yes. We cover West and Central Africa, along with projects run from Europe into those markets. Applicable law, public registers and guarantee windows change from one country to the next, and we read your file against the right country.
How long between a bankability audit and a first term sheet?
Allow 4 to 6 weeks for the Investment Readiness base, meaning the financial model, the investor file and the data room. Then 3 to 4 months of approaching financiers. A term sheet rarely lands before the end of that second phase.
Book your bankability audit
One 60-minute session, one written note, and you will know where your file holds and where it breaks before you write to your first financier.
Book a bankability auditPublic resources: IFC, financial institutions, UNCTAD, investment, World Bank, Africa region. On this site: capital advisory, fundraising, funding sources, data room, equipment finance, contact us and the home page. AfroRanking Capital Advisory works as adviser and structurer, with no collection or placement of funds.