African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM) has announced the appointment of Patrick Kouamé as Investment Director, responsible for transaction origination and business development in the French- speaking African regions.

Kouamé brings with him a wealth of industry experience and in-depth financial knowledge.

Prior to joining AIIM, he was an executive at General Electric (GE), leading commercial finance for their oil and gas business in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Prior to that he was Senior Vice President for sales and project finance, in charge of Francophone Africa and Angola. 

Kouamé also held a position as Managing Partner for Africa Capital Cote d’Ivoire, where he led the origination and execution of mergers and acquisitions, as well as financing transactions for clients in West and Central Africa.

Jurie Swart, CEO of AIIM, said that given their strong focus on opportunities in West Africa, Kouamé is sure to be a great asset to the team. 

“The Francophone African region has a combined GDP in excess of $130bn and population in excess of 130 million inhabitants. When combined with an improved political stability and strong economic growth forecasts it represents an increasingly important region for AIIM’s investment strategy,” he said. 

“We are delighted to have Patrick join the team and believe his experience in the sector and region will position us strongly to execute on our growth strategy,” he added. 

In addition, AIIM has hired Arnold Attoungbre from Citi Group, who will be joining as an analyst to further strengthen AIIM’s footprint in this region.

AIIM, established in 2000, manages and advises funds that invest long-term institutional unlisted equity in African infrastructure projects. 

AIIM’s fund portfolio extends across 41 investments with aggregate assets under management of $1.6bn.

Initially established as a 50/50 joint venture, AIIM successfully combined the experience of one of South Africa's largest financial institutions, Old Mutual, with one of the world's leading infrastructure investment managers, Macquarie. 

In 2015, OMAI acquired the remaining 50% of AIIM making it the sole shareholder of the pan-African infrastructure investment manager.