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Alwaleed-backed fund to inject $500 mln in Africa

A private equity fund whose biggest investor is Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is raising funds to invest $500 million throughout Africa.The fund — Pan-African Investment Partners II — aims to ride on the back of strong economic growth on a continent where private equity has made much fewer inroads than in Europe and the United States, a top official of the fund said on Wednesday.

“We find there is a transforming landscape in Africa, a lot of improvements in governance, economic liberalisation and a significant privatisation pipeline,” Nathan Mintah, a partner in the firm that manages the fund, told Reuters in an interview.

The management firm, Kingdom Zephyr Africa Management Company, is a joint venture of Alwaleed’s Kingdom Holding Company 4280.SE and U.S.-based private equity firm Zephyr Management LP.

“If you add to that the fact that you’ve got this large and growing GDP (gross domestic product), unmet consumer demand in several sectors and buoyant stock markets increasingly more suitable for exits, you’ll find a context that’s throwing up quite a lot of opportunities for private equity funds.”

The continent has a combined GDP of about $1.1 trillion with growth expected at more than 6 percent over the next few years.

Alwaleed has already committed $250 million to the fund, which is seeking to raise a similar amount from institutional investors.

read the rest published by Reuters here:
http://www.reuters.com/article/managerMoves/idUSORM94979720071219