Development Partners International (DPI), a pan-African private equity firm with $1.7bn in assets under management, has elected three new partners to the firms leadership.

The election of Babacar Ka, Takudzwa Mutasa and Marc Stoneham to the Partnership signifies the growth and development of DPI, and its dedication to supporting innovative and fast-growing companies across Africa.

The promotions come shortly after a string of achievements this year for DPI, including an investment in SICAM, a Tunisian tomato food processor – the firm’s first Tunisian investment and one of the largest private equity transactions ever undertaken in the country.

DPI also announced that its third fund, ADP III, became the first private equity fund to be granted 2x Flagship Fund status, as part of the 2x Challenge initiative.

Ka is DPI's West African deal lead with over 10 years of African private equity experience.

He joined DPI nine years ago and has led four transactions for the firm, including Banque Atlantique (ABI), KMR Group (Université Privée de Marrakech – UPM) and Food Concepts Plc.

He also sits on the Board of Atlantique Business International (ABI – Banque Atlantique Group), KMR Group (Université Privée de Marrakech – UPM), Touax Africa and Food Concepts Plc.

Prior to joining DPI, he worked at Standard Bank Group, focusing on investments in the mining, infrastructure and telecommunication sectors across Sub-Saharan Africa, and as an Investment Analyst for IFC in Washington DC where he was responsible for investments in Latin America, Eastern Europe and Middle East across multiple industries

Mutasa is DPI’s East Africa lead with over 14 years of investment and investment advisory experience, of which 11 of those have been in African private equity.

He initially started at DPI in 2014 and then re-joined the firm in January 2018, to focus on the firm’s investment activity in East Africa.

Mutasa started his career at Citigroup before moving to Helios Investment Partners where he was involved in sourcing, analysing, and executing private equity investments across the African continent. He has also gained private equity experience working at KKR.

Stoneham leads the portfolio management team partnering with the leaders of DPI’s portfolio companies to support and implement their growth strategies across the continent.

He is a member and observer of multiple portfolio company Boards and Board committees. Marc has lived and worked for most of his career across the continent, with significant experience in Nigeria, Morocco and Egypt and is proficient in French.

Prior to DPI, he worked at McKinsey & Company (serving African and other emerging market clients), Actis, Kingdom Zephyr, and Accenture strategy consulting.

Runa Alam, DPI co-founder and CEO, said: "We are delighted to welcome Babacar, Takudzwa and Marc to the DPI partnership. Over their years at DPI, they have exemplified our values and our passion to support African entrepreneurs grow market leading companies. The expansion of our partnership demonstrates our commitment to the whole African continent, and to be a partner of the highest quality to our portfolio companies. Their technical expertise and knowledge of their markets will allow us to identify and support more high growth Africa companies than ever before. I would personally like to thank them for the dedication and relentless pursuit of excellence in everything they do.”

“Africa continues to be one of the most exciting and fastest growing markets in the world. The deepening of capital markets in the region, improvements in infrastructure, growing consumer markets and rapidly growing middle class, are all creating new opportunities to partner with innovative entrepreneurs across the continent.”