AGF’s Anna Lyudvig speaks with industry leaders about the state of African private equity and future prospects
AGF’s Anna Lyudvig (AL) speaks with Rory Ord, Head of Unlisted Investments at 27four Investment Managers about the new private equity business and the launch of the PE fund of funds.
Investment in emerging and frontier economies has been a major theme of the past two decades, writes Chris Becker, Economist, Investec Bank
RisCura has launched the 2017 private equity (PE) update of its Bright Africa report, providing a comprehensive view of PE investment across Africa. This research covers fundraising, transaction activity, pricing and investor focus. “The latest findings point to a favourable shift in PE deal sentiment in Africa,” says Head of Independent Valuations, RisCura: Heleen Goussard.
The opportunity for growth-ready fund managers and asset managers is huge. Are you ready to capture it?
Adnan Razzak (AR), Head of Funds & Investor Relations, FCCA, tells AGF about AXIS, PE fund administration and financial services sector in Mauritius
The path to robust data management remains an ongoing journey, though there is growing recognition among African investment firms that the time for transformation has arrived, writes Amit Bharakda, Sales Director, Eagle Investment Systems, a BNY Mellon Company
Africa’s funds industry may not have the scale or scope of those in North America or Europe (yet). But the markets are dynamic and evolving rapidly. To keep pace, asset managers will have to evolve too. And one key area of focus must be the efficiency and sophistication of their operational infrastructures.
The youngest of three daughters Refilwe Mekwa was born and raised in a small village in Limpopo by her single parent mother, a teacher at a government school and someone who naturally values education and the benefits it brings to people’s lives. Refilwe’s mother made many personal sacrifices so that she could send her daughter to an affordable private school that provided high quality education.
Demographics are shaping the investment attractiveness of Africa’s hotel sector, writes Mthuli Ncube, Head of Research, Quantum Global Group
To reach our potential as a Continent we need unprecedented innovation and investment; core to which is the ICT sector and access to affordable, reliable broadband services. The developmental and economic benefits of internet access to economies and especially developing economies is well documented. Undoubtedly, internet access is a critical catalyst to bridging the gap on some of the social needs of the Continent be it in banking, education, government services, entertainment, health etc.
A giraffe on the African Savannah with the tall buildings of a city on the horizon is often the picture many people think of when imagining Africa. They may not know it but the scene is from the Nairobi National Park, a park on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city. The Kenya Wildlife services on their website call it “The Worlds Wildlife Capital”. It’s a place I had for many years refused to go to, I was happy to go to Kenya’s coast or its Maasai Mara game reserve but I thought that a game reserve so close to the city was somehow not authentic. Till one year I was persuaded to visit and realised that it’s very authentic, a great place and very convenient being so close to the city. For some of the wildlife such as the lions, sometimes a bit too convenient as they can sometimes get out of the reserve and into the city with disastrous results both for the people living in the suburbs close to the reserve and for the lions.
After registering the worst decline in over two decades, economic growth in Africa is showing signs of rebounding, with the continent’s aggregate growth expected to rise to 3.2% in 2018 and 3.5% in 2019. However, as was recently highlighted by the World Bank following their analysis of the state of African economies, improved infrastructure is a key requirement for stimulating this necessary growth. Africa’s critical requirement for core infrastructure, coupled with the increased development of private investment programmes, is driving a strong pipeline of opportunities in infrastructure investment.
Central banks in the developed world are contemplating an end to their dalliances with quantitative easing. Crucially, the US Federal Reserve announced its intention to commence balance sheet normalisation by ceasing to reinvest maturing principal of its bloated holdings of US Treasury securities and mortgage backed securities. Currently, the Fed’s balance sheet is 25% of US GDP. Normalisation will, therefore, require many years, but there will be important implications for the international cost of capital.
