In a region where only a minority of the population has access to a bank account and SMEs struggle to get financial help from traditional banks, Albert Alsina, CEO and Founder of Mediterrania Capital Partners, explains how the PE industry is becoming a catalyst for the African Fintech ecosystem’s development, enabling large-scale banking and supporting entrepreneurs and SMEs in their expansion plans (pp. 10-12).
In this month’s issue of Africa Global Funds, we also caught up with Kenneth Kaniu, Britam Asset Managers CEO, to learn about their anchor investment in Tiserin Capital, and the needs and constraints of institutional investors in Kenya and East Africa (pp. 14-15).
On the infrastructure front, we hear from Moritz Breickmann, Investment Director at African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM) who showcases some successful airport redevelopments in Africa. Read on to find why airport infrastructure projects on the continent can provide attractive long term returns to investors (p.17).
In this month’s issue we also learn that the FTIF Templeton Africa Fund was merged into the FTIF Templeton Frontier Markets Fund. We speak with Ahmed Awny and David Haglund about the Fund and its African investments (p.16).
Finally, Rob Childs, Head of International for Prescient Fund Services shares his views on the global distribution challenges facing African fund managers and why the firm decided to domicile their offshore fund range in Ireland (p. 22).
Proparco, the French Development Finance Institution (DFI), has been active in Africa for over 40 years. The DFI has developed a comprehensive approach, with presence on the continent through six regional offices, covering its debt, guarantee and equity offerings. AGF’s Anna Lyudvig speaks with Jérémie Ceyrac, Head of Equity, Responsible Investments to learn more about financial products on offer, recent investments in Africa and African impact investment scene.
After careful consideration and analysis, the Franklin Templeton Investment Funds (FTIF) Board of directors decided to merge the FTIF Templeton Africa Fund into the $65.9m FTIF Templeton Frontier Markets Fund, effective February 15, 2019. Due to both funds sharing similar investment objectives and target investor profiles, the Board believes that this merger will offer economies of scale to existing shareholders.
EMPEA this week released its year-end Industry Statistics, which outlines the bottom line for private investment in emerging markets across the globe. AGF speaks with Jeff Schlapinski, Senior Director, Research, EMPEA, about African private capital fundraising in 2018, deal activity, fund strategies and more.
In December 2018, H.E. Calle Schlettwein, Minister of Finance of Namibia visited New York to meet with US investors and businesses to discuss economic recovery prospects and investment opportunities. In an exclusive interview with Africa Global Funds, Minister of Finance said that the country has embarked on a large scale programme of renewing and developing its infrastructure. The country offers opportunities for investment in infrastructure trough public private partnerships (PPPs) or foreign direct investment (FDI).
Venture Capital (VC) in Africa has grown at a tremendous pace in the last few years as investors hunt value earlier in the cycle. Startup funding in the first half of 2018 was over 50% higher than in the whole of 2017. AGF’s Anna Lyudvig speaks with Enitan Obasanjo-Adeleye, AVCA's Director and Head of Research to discuss the current trends.
AGF catches up with Zack Bezuidenhoudt, Head of Client Coverage, South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, S&P Dow Jones Indices, to discuss the indexing industry, investors’ needs and whether Africa is following global trends
SGG Group offers administrative and accounting solutions for investment funds, multinational corporations and family offices across more than 20 countries. Last year, the firm acquired Cim Global Business in Mauritius, which was rebranded as SGG. Graham Sheward, Managing Director, SGG Mauritius, tells AGF about some of the projects in Africa.
IBIS is a premier emerging market sustainability consultancy that assists private and public companies unlock value and improve their environmental and social performance. IBIS was established in 2015 by some of the most experienced and respected sustainability consultants in Africa who collectively have over 150 years’ experience in the environmental and social management fields. IBIS has offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa and in Nairobi, Kenya.
Since establishment, IBIS has undertaken hundreds of projects for African and global financial sector clients in >40 countries in Africa as well as in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas. IBIS employs over 30 professional staff and has in-house language capabilities in English, French, Portuguese, Spanish and various African languages.
AGF’s Anna Lyudvig sits down with Ann Leepile, Head of Absa Asset Management, to discuss the firm, its franchise model and how to succeed as a female in a male-dominated industry
Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa had regarded the recent elections as his opportunity to rehabilitate the country in the eyes of the international community. To what extent has that opportunity been lost? Here’s an assessment from Dr. Christopher McKee (pictured), the CEO of PRS Group, the biggest quant-driven country risk analysis firm, whose data feeds Transparency International, the IMF and many of Wall Street’s largest investment firms.
Goodwell Investments has recently launched Goodwell Microfinance Development Company IV (Goodwell IV), a new €20m fund for investments in the inclusive economy in Sub-Saharan Africa. AGF catches up with Wim van der Beek, Partner at Goodwell Investments, to learn more
AGF’s Anna Lyudvig speaks with Enitan Obasanjo-Adeleye, Head of Research, AVCA about infrastructure investments in Africa and whether there is the best template for infrastructure investing
AGF’s Anna Lyudvig speaks with Keonethebe Bosigo (pictured) and Seth Boakye-Dankwah, Portfolio Managers of the Mazi Capital Prime Africa Fund, to learn more about the fund and the South African firm
