GroFin Private Equity to inject $125m in Africa

A PRIVATE equity fund plans to put money in risk capital investments and other business support to five African countries.

The GroFin Africa fund has so far raised $125m at its fund’s first closing.

This represents the largest fundraising success by GroFin in a single fund to date, a fact that highlights appetite for investors for Africa. The fund would invest between $100,000 and $1m in seven countries including Uganda, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania and South Africa. It expects to raise $160m by November.

The economic, political and social reforms coupled with several years of high growth that have taken place across many African economies, made it a “very attractive growth finance environment.

GroFin specialises in integrating the much-needed risk finance with business development support.

This helps fill a void between micro-finance and private equity as very few financiers target the emerging growth finance asset class. The fund will target growth finance opportunities in all sectors like consumer goods services, logistics /transport, private education, manufacturing and agribusiness.

The fund was created by GroFin, a leading growth finance fund management company specialising in risk capital and business support for small-and-medium businesses in emerging markets.