The Abraaj Group has final closed its Africa Fund III, a third dedicated Sub-Saharan Africa private equity fund, at $990m, receiving support from a diverse range of global institutional investors, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and development finance institutions.

Arif Naqvi, Founder and Group CEO of The Abraaj Group, said: “The strong demand for this new fund reflects increasing investor appreciation for the powerful growth story unfolding across Africa. It is a story driven by rapid urbanization and favourable demographics that are fuelling consumption across multiple sectors from an expanding, young middle class.”

The 64% of the capital committed to the Abraaj Africa Fund III has come from European and North American investors, with institutional investors, pension funds and sovereign wealth funds accounting for 76% of the committed capital.

“Abraaj’s longstanding presence on the ground, with seasoned local investment teams in four key Sub-Saharan cities, coupled with our deep global experience of value creation in growth markets, puts us in a unique position to identify high-potential partner companies that can become regional champions in their industries,” added Naqvi.

AAF III will focus on well-managed, mid-market leaders in sectors most likely to benefit from demand driven by the rapid expansion of a young, urban, middle class across Sub-Saharan Africa.

These sectors include consumer goods and services, consumer finance, and resource and infrastructure services in the core geographies of Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, South Africa and Kenya.

By partnering with companies with the capability to create value through a combination of organic expansion, add-on acquisitions, strategic repositioning and consolidation strategies, the Fund will help local African businesses to become regional champions.

Abraaj’s network of offices and experience with executing successful regional growth plans for several of its African portfolio businesses provides it with the ideal platform to execute these strategies.

AAF III has made a significant cornerstone investment in Liberty Star Consumer Holdings (Libstar), one of the leading food and personal care manufacturers in South Africa, with the acquisition of a majority stake.

Abraaj has helped pioneer the growth and development of the private equity industry in Africa with more than a decade of investing experience and deploying around $3bn across the continent.

In Sub-Saharan Africa alone, Abraaj has made 67 investments in nine sectors and successfully achieved 30 full and partial exits from these investments.

Abraaj has one of the largest investment teams in Sub-Saharan Africa with 27 investment and operating professionals based across four offices throughout the continent in Nairobi, Lagos, Accra and Johannesburg.