The
weekly roundup of Africa's Private Capital news
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Here's the latest weekly wrap of the most interesting Africa-related private equity, infrastructure and venture capital deal stories, market opinion articles and information pieces.
Thank you for being a reader and we look forward to continuing to keep you informed on the private capital investment themes, deals and fundraisings in Africa.
We'd be delighted if you shared it with any interested colleagues and/or partners. If they would like to receive their own weekly copy, they're more than welcome to sign up here.
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This week's issue supported by...
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The only private equity-related deals reported in Africa last week were either transaction by a portfolio company or concerned the fund manager itself. Even then it was a light week, whichever way you look at it. There was some fundraising action, certainly. But after last week's burst of deal activity, deal makers perhaps had an excuse to draw breath.
GoMetro, a technology company creating public transport and mobile ticketing apps which was backed with R5million in seed capital by
AngelHub Ventures and
4Decades Capital in early to mid 2014 was the beneficiary of an undisclosed infusion of fresh equity from
Tritech Media in exchange for a 20% stake. The capital will be used to fund the company's growth plans.
GoMetro is eyeing expansion opportunities in other emerging countries, with Nairobi, Kenya's capital city, currently being mapped. With Tritech now a major stakeholder, the company is looking to leverage the media technology company's network of portfolio and partner companies and their market share to push its growth still further.
The executives and employees of
Pointbreak, an investment management firm offering asset management, private equity and property investment services in Namibia, have agreed to sell their entire stake to
FNB, a member of South Africa's
FirstRand Group of companies. Terms of the deal, which is subject to regulator approval in both countries, were not disclosed.
No changes are expected to Pointbreak's operations which will continue to see the company "...continue to serve its clients with uncompromising levels of personal service excellence and in the same professional, diligent and homely manner as always" as CEO Josephat Mwatotole commented in an email to
Africa Capital Digest last week.
News of planned funds and an actual commitment were the most buoyant area of capital news on the continent last week. The
African Development Bank is committing $20 million in capital to the Rx Healthcare Fund, an Africa-focused private equity investment vehicle which will target growth capital opportunities in diagnostic, hospital and pharmaceutical companies across the continent. The fund, which is looking to raise $200 million in total, will be managed by
EFG Hermes' private equity investment team. Initially backing businesses in Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco, it's expected to expand its investment region to include Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and Sudan, bringing capital and technology transfer to these under-served regions.
Africamen, a 30 million dinar (approximately US$14million) venture capital fund, was launged last week. Backed by a Tunisian consortium made up of
Caisse des depôts et consignations, the country's investment promotion agency,
Amen Bank, Compagnie Tunisienne d'Assurance et de Réassurance and publicly-listed conglomerate
Poulina Group, the fund will make investments in Tunisian companies that are aiming to expand into sub-Saharan Africa. Amen Capital, the asset management arm of Amen Bank, will manage the fund.
In other fundraising news,
Stockdale Street, the private equity investment arm of the Oppenheimer family's South Africa interests, is backing a new hedge fund with R100 million or approximately US$7 million. The fund,
Senqu Capital, is being launched by former Capricorn Capital fund managers Andrew Crawford and Stephen Carew and will pursue an equity long-short strategy.
Meanwhile, the
Islamic Corporation for the Development of the private sector and Gabon's Deposit and Consignments Fund signed a memorandum of understanding to launch a new private equity fund targeting small and medium-sized enterprises in Gabon and Central Africa. Additional details of the fund raise were hazy, but we'll keep
we'll keep you up-to-date once we hear more.
Africa's largest fund manager was involved in "a first" last week. The
Public Investment Corporation or PIC, manager of South Africa's Government Employees Pension Fund,
revealed details its portfolio of unlisted assets for the first time last week during the presentation of its integrated annual report to Parliament's Standing Committee on Finance. Held in the Isibaya Fund, PIC's unlisted investment portfolio equates to 2.4% of the manager's entire portfolio of R1.9 trillion, totalling 44.6 billion in 250 investments across a variety of sectors.
And finally, while sinking rents, a supply glut and continued weakness in the price of oil are all presenting challenges to Nigeria's property landlords, some investors feel that the time's now right to step in. Reuters talks to a number of real estate investors or where they seen there's opportunity and how they plan to invest.
As always, you can review these and other stories by scrolling down and clicking through to them below.
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Tritech Media takes 20$ stake in South African commuter app developer GoMetro
Image Credit: GoMetro |
Venture Capital
Tritech Media takes 20% stake in GoMetro
South Africa's Tritech Media is backing GoMetro, the technology company creating public transport and mobile ticketing apps owned by, among others, AngelHub Ventures and 4Decades Capital, with an undisclosed infusion of fresh equity in exchange for a 20% stake. As part of the deal, it's expected that one of Tritech's senior executives will take a seat on GoMetro's board.
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Private Equity
Pointbreak acquired by FNB Namibia
FNB Namibia has agreed to acquire Pointbreak, an investment management firm offering asset management, private equity and property investment services in Namibia to the private client, corporate and institutional investment markets in an undisclosed deal.
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Fund & Fundraising News...
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Private Equity
AfDB backs healthcare fund with $20mln commitment
The African Development Bank is committing $20 million in capital to the Rx Healthcare Fund, an Africa-focused private equity investment vehicle which will target growth capital opportunities in diagnostic, hospital and pharmaceutical companies across the continent.
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Private Equity
Africamen launches with $14mln
Caisse des depôts et consignations, Tunisia's investment promotion agency, Amen Bank and Compagnie Tunisienne d'Assurance et de Réassurance are teaming up with publicly-listed conglomerate Poulina Group to launch a 30 million dinar (approximately US$14 million) venture capital fund.
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Hedge Funds
Stockdale Street to seed new hedge fund
Stockdale Street, the private equity investment arm of the Oppenheimer family's South Africa interests, is backing a new hedge fund with R100 million or approximately US$7 million. The fund, Senqu Capital, is being launched by former Capricorn Capital fund managers Andrew Crawford and Stephen Carew and will pursue an equity long-short strategy.
Read more...
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Private Equity
ICD launches SME-focused private equity fund
A new private equity fund targeting small and medium-sized enterprises in Gabon and Central Africa is being planned. Last week, the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the private sector and Gabon's Deposit and Consignments Fund signed a memorandum of understanding to launch the fund.
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Projects & Portfolio Companies...
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PIC publishes details of unlisted portfolio
Public Investment Corporation, manager of South Africa's Government Employees Pension Fund, revealed details its portfolio of unlisted assets for the first time last week during the presentation of its integrated annual report to Parliament's Standing Committee on Finance. The portfolio totaled R44.6 billion (approximately US$3.2 billion) at the end of March and was made up of 250 investments in a number of sectors.
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PSG has R1.7bn in cash to invest in private equity
PSG has R1.7 billion in cash to invest, most of which has been earmarked for private equity deals. The South Africa-based investment group's CEO. Piet Mouton, tells Business Day the company's existing private equity portfolio will be a major beneficiary of additional investments, especially those with greenfield opportunities.
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Nigeria's property crash attracts investors with an eye to the future
Collapsing rents, a supply glut and continued weakness in the price of oil are all presenting challenges to Nigeria's property landlords and their investors. In spite of this, some investors feel that the time's now right to step in.
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Fusion Capital grabs first mover advantage
Fusion Capital credits its real estate investment success in large part to seizing the opportunity presented by the devolution of government in Kenya in 2013. By capitalizing on first-mover advantage in some of the 47 counties, the company has tapped into better priced land and an eager client base of lifestyle brands looking to expand into these rapidly growing areas.
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African M&A filings "costly and cumbersome"
A number of countries in COMESA states are still insisting that deal makers lodge separate merger filings in their individual jurisdictions as well as with the regional body's competition commission, increasing fees and the costs of doing deals through duplication of efforts and document preparation.
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Challenges to scaling social enterprises
A brief Q&A with Ndidi Nwuneli, author of the recently-published book "Social Innovation in Africa", discussing the challenges of scaling social enterprises on the continent. While change can be slow, thee are ways to accelerate progress.
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Executive Director at EAVCA
Based in Nairobi, Kenya
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Based in Johannesburg, South Africa
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Based in London, United Kingdom
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Based in Johannesburg, South Africa
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Investment Associate, West Africa at Accion Venture Lab
// accion.com
Based in Lagos, Nigeria or Accra, Ghana
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Based in Johannesburg, South Africa
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Based in Johannesburg, South Africa
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Young professional for Renewable Energy deals at Swicorp
// swicorp.com
Based in Tunis, Tunisia
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Cape Town, November 29th to December 1st, 2016
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Sub-Saharan Africa Power Forum 2016
Cape Town, October 26th to October 28th, 2016
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International Islamic Banking Summit Africa
Djibouti, November 2nd to November 3rd, 2016
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Africa Renewable Energy Forum
Marrakech, November 2nd to November 4th, 2016
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3rd Annual Infrastructure Project Financing Africa
Nairobi, November 7th to November 9th, 2016
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Investing in Emerging Markets Summit
Johannesburg, November 16th to November 17th, 2016
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African Agri Investment Indaba
Cape Town, November 28th to November 30th, 2016
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14th Annual African Capital Markets Conference
Cape Town, November 30th to December 1st, 2016
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Global Solutions Summit 2016
Little Rock, December 13th to December 14th, 2016
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Regional Energy Co-operation Summit
Abidjan, January 25th to January 27th, 2017
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Investing in African Mining Indaba
Cape Town, February 6th to February 9th, 2017
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SAVCA Private Equity in Southern Africa
Stellenbosch, February 22nd to February 23rd, 2017
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Pensions Funds & Alternative Investments Africa
Balaclava, Mauritius, March 15th to March 17th, 2017
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We hope you found the digest to be a useful summary of the major happenings in Africa's private capital markets last week. We'd love it if you shared it with colleagues and business partners. They can sign up for free
here.
Best wishes for a productive week - if you have any tips, suggestions, questions or comments, please get in touch.
All the best,
- Allan
Allan Cunningham
Editor & Publisher
AfCD | Africa Capital Digest
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Africa Capital Digest is a product of Rowayton Press
Rowayton, CT 06853, USA
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