The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) will spend over $220m (R2.5bn) on African investments in the 2014/2015 financial year, according to PIC’s chairman and Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene.

“The PIC will also focus on developmental investments in Africa, with a minimum commitment of $500m and a further $500m towards private equity in Africa,” he said in the corporation’s annual report.

He said Africa’s economic output has tripled over the past decade, and the sub-Saharan region is projected to grow at 5% over the next ten years.

“This growth means that the continent will be the second-fastest growing region in the world, after Asia,” he said.

“We are fully aware that part of [our] strategy should be to grab opportunities in Africa and reap rewards in a manner that promotes inclusive growth and creates decent work for the people of Africa,” he said.

PIC’s largest transaction on the African continent during the past financial year was securing a 1,5% stake in Nigerian-listed company Dangote Cement for $289m.

PIC's first investment in the rest of Africa after the change in the corporation's investment mandate was the $250m investment in Ecobank.

Overall, PIC’s investments in the rest of Africa currently represent 0.5%.

Established in 1911, the PIC is one of the largest investment managers in Africa with a total of R1,6 trillion in assets under management.