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Abraaj secures $990m for mid-market firms in Nigeria, Ghana, others

Emerging market-focused private equity firm, Abraaj Group, says it has secured a 990 million dollars for the development of mid-market firms in sub-Saharan Africa. Arif Naqvi, Founder and Group Chief Executive of the Abraaj Group, said on Monday in Dubai that the fund tagged ``Sub-Saharan Africa Fund III’’, was the third in the sub-Saharan Africa.…

Emerging market-focused private equity firm, Abraaj Group, says it has secured a 990 million dollars for the development of mid-market firms in sub-Saharan Africa.

Arif Naqvi, Founder and Group Chief Executive of the Abraaj Group, said on Monday in Dubai that the fund tagged “Sub-Saharan Africa Fund III’’, was the third in the sub-Saharan Africa.

The fund is for consumer goods and services, consumer finance and resource and infrastructure services in the core countries of Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, South Africa and Kenya.

Naqvi said the fund was provided by its European and North American investors who committed 64 per cent of the capital in the Abraaj Africa Fund III.

He said that funding also came from global institutional investors, pension funds and sovereign wealth funds adding up to 76 per cent.

Naqvi did not, however, disclose how much Abraaj contributed to the fund.

“It (Africa) is a story driven by rapid urbanisation and favourable demographics that are fuelling consumption across multiple sectors from an expanding, young middle class,’’ he said.

The firm said the new African fund would focus on well-managed, mid-market firms in sectors most likely to benefit from demand driven by the rapid expansion of a young, urban, middle-class.

Abraaj reiterated that it had deployed around 3 billion dollars across the African continent, while in sub-Saharan Africa alone; it had made 67 investments with 30 full or partial exits.

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