The final close of AfricInvest Fund IV (AF IV) with total commitments of US$411 million has been announced by AfricInvest, an African investment platform.
Fund AfricInvest IV is the largest in the company’s history, and it follows on from the previous flagship fund, AfricInvest III, which closed in 2016 with a US$300 million fund size.
AF IV, like its predecessors, seeks to invest in mature and profitable African mid-cap companies in a variety of sectors in order to stimulate regional growth and generate excellent risk-adjusted returns.
“AfricInvest Fund IV is ideally positioned to continue financing African companies, helping them as they evolve into local and regional champions,” said Skander Oueslati, Senior Partner and CIO of Sub-Saharan Africa. Our local knowledge and experience enable us to establish distinctive deals that help portfolio companies develop long-term strategies that provide value.”
AfricInvest IV has made three investments since its creation, the first of which was the purchase of a minority position in Fidelity Bank Ghana in mid-2020.
The second was an investment in a merger between Compagnie Marocaine de Goutte à Goutte et de Pompage (“CMGP”) and Comptoir Agricole du Souss (“CAS”) in 2021, resulting in CMGP-CAS, one of Africa’s top irrigation and agribusiness firms.
In April 2022, the Fund and the International Finance Corporation purchased a 36 percent ownership in Kenya-based AutoXpress, which is East Africa’s largest importer, distributor, and retailer of tyres, auto parts, and accessories.
In addition, the Fund encourages inclusive and sustainable development by adhering to the 2X Challenge criterion for women’s economic empowerment.
AfricInvest IV garnered investment from new and returning institutional investors, development finance institutions, and family offices from throughout the world when it was launched two years ago with a hard cap of $400 million.
Read more on Tech Gist Africa:
Untapped Global has secured a pre-seed funding round of $10.3 million in debt and equity
AfriLabs has launched an e-learning platform to foster innovation across Africa
The Google Africa Developer Scholarship Program 2022 is now accepting applications