The Carlyle Group has named Idris Mohammed as Managing Director on the firm’s Sub-Saharan African fund team (CSSAF), effective immediately. 

Mohammed has more than 15 years of private equity experience spanning the US and Africa. 

He began his private equity career at Goldman Sachs in New York where he was a member of the Special Situations Group and helped build the clean energy investing business before deciding to return home to invest in Africa.

In 2007, Mohammed joined DPI at inception where he was based in London and then moved to Lagos to head that office. 

He helped raise two funds at DPI and led a number of acquisitions across Africa, including in Botswana, Nigeria and Egypt. 

Mohammed said: “I am pleased to join the CSSAF team, which was the first dedicated Africa fund by a global alternative asset manager. I believe in the huge potential for the region, and look forward to working with Carlyle and leveraging my experience and network to identify new opportunities.”

Mohammed is based in Lagos, Nigeria, and will focus on West and North Africa, supported by the Carlyle’s Sub-Saharan Africa team of 12 investment professionals. 

In his role, he will work with the team to seek out investment opportunities and partnerships across the continent, work with existing portfolio investments and help Carlyle invest wisely and create value across a range of industries.

Eric Kump, Carlyle Managing Director and Head of CSSAF, said: “We are delighted to welcome Idris to the Carlyle family. He is a well-respected and highly-experienced investor in Africa, who will help us further deploy capital across the continent. We continue to be excited about the prospects for this region and believe Idris will bring further depth and breadth to the team.”