The Carlyle Group, a global alternative asset manager, has invested $147m in Diamond Bank, a commercial bank headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, with operations across West Africa and the UK.

Genevieve Sangudi, Managing Director and Head of West Africa for the Carlyle Sub-Saharan Africa Fund, said that Nigeria is the largest and one of the fastest growing economies in Africa, and Diamond Bank is well positioned to continue to benefit from Nigeria’s attractive macro-economic trends

“Carlyle is very pleased to join the Diamond Bank Group as an investor. Diamond Bank is one of the most recognised retail banks in Nigeria, with a strong corporate culture, best-in-class management team, advanced technology, large retail franchise and innovative product and service offerings,” he said.

“We are fully in support of the bank’s strategic goal to become one of the most successful Tier 1 banks in Nigeria and West Africa, and we look forward to supporting the Bank towards achieving this objective,” he added.

The investment came through the Bank’s recently completed $305m (NGN50bn) rights issue.

The rights issue improves Diamond Bank’s Tier 1 capital, both strengthening its balance sheet and supporting the bank’s continued growth plans.

Proceeds will be used for the development of the bank’s IT infrastructure, working capital support and the expansion and refurbishment of its branches.

Diamond Bank is a full-service bank offering a wide range of financial services and products throughout Nigeria and West Africa.

As of September 30, 2014, the Bank had over $10bn of total assets and $7bn of customer deposits.

The Bank is recognized for its market-leading retail franchise, having extended loans to more than 120,000 MSMEs in Nigeria since 2009, innovation in e-banking (Diamond Mobile app) and banking the un-banked (Diamond Y’ello account and BETA banking proposition).

Uzoma Dozie, Group Managing Director and CEO of Diamond Bank, said: “This investment is a testament of the Bank’s strong brand and success over the years, particularly in the Retail/SME space. We are confident that Carlyle’s support will be fruitful and benefit all stakeholders. They bring global expertise in financial services and banking, having invested $4bn globally in over 25 financial services companies, along with long-standing experience in emerging markets.”

“Diamond Bank also stands to benefit from Carlyle’s extensive network of financial services specialists as we continue to strengthen our market position, expand our commercial and retail offerings and further enhance our operations. We are delighted to have Carlyle as a significant shareholder of the Bank,” he said.

The Carlyle Group manages $203bn of assets across 129 funds and 141 fund of funds vehicles as of September 30, 2014.