Standard Chartered Private Equity’s Head of Africa, Peter Baird is set to leave, as the bank trims its private equity team on the continent.

 Baird, who was appointed in 2011, has 20 years’ experience in private equity, consulting and investment banking.

 He is responsible for SCPE's Principal Finance business across sub-Saharan Africa.

 He spent 11 years at McKinsey in South Africa and in the US, where he was a partner in the healthcare and private-equity practices.

 From 2006 to 2008, Peter was President of DJO, Inc., a Blackstone-led medical-devices LBO.

 Baird will be replaced by Ronald Tamale, a former Goldman Sachs analyst, according to Joe Stevens, CEO of Standard Chartered Private Equity.

Tamale will report to Taimoor Labib, Head of Africa & Middle East Private Equity. 

Labib said: “We have a solid private equity portfolio in Africa in fundamentally strong companies.  We look forward to future investments in Africa's leading enterprises, enabling them to take their businesses to the next level.  We remain fully committed to creating long term, sustainable value for all our partners."

Tamale will be leading a team of eight private equity specialists within the Bank’s Africa team, and will draw upon sector and other specialists from across the SCPE platform as the Bank drives growth in its existing portfolio, capitalising on the substantial Africa private equity opportunity going forward.

African economies have struggled over the past year with lower commodity prices, rising government debt and weakening currencies.

Many of Standard Chartered’s investments are in Nigeria, where subdued oil prices have pushed Africa’s biggest economy to the brink of recession and banks have wrestled with acute foreign exchange shortages.

Yemi Osindero, Head of Standard Chartered’s West Africa private equity business, is also leaving the bank, along with his colleague Nana Dankwa, to start an independent African fund.

Since inception eight years ago, SCPE Africa has delivered tangible economic benefits for entrepreneurs and companies across the continent.  Successful initiatives include a secondary listing for a growing African retailer on the JSE; a $74m investment into the region’s growing power sector by backing Zambia’s Copperbelt Energy Corporation, as well as the privatisation of Union Bank of Nigeria in partnership with a consortium of investors.

“Africa continues to provide dynamic private equity investment opportunities despite current commodity price and currency volatility.  We are confident in the long term investment potential within the continent, and pleased to have Ronald Tamale at the helm as we build on our success, and continue to support Africa’s entrepreneurial spirit,” said Stevens.