Debevoise & Plimpton
Geoffrey Burgess, Partner
May 2021
AVCA speaks with Geoffrey Burgess about the major regulatory developments affecting private investment in Africa, and the unique climate risks facing the continent.
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May 2021
AVCA speaks with Geoffrey Burgess about the major regulatory developments affecting private investment in Africa, and the unique climate risks facing the continent.
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April 2021
AVCA speaks with Mathieu Peller, Partner and Chief Operating Officer, Africa about Meridiam's commitment to long-term sustainable development through its Africa projects.
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March 2021
AVCA speaks with Paul Kokoricha and Ron Mincy at African Capital Alliance (ACA) about the evolution of private equity in West Africa and the importance of value creation when preparing investments for exits.
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February 2021
AVCA speaks with Isabelle Bébéar, Director of International & European Affairs at Bpifrance, about the bank's commitment to small business growth and scale-up in Africa through the Averroès Finance funds.
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January 2021
AVCA speaks to Matthew Davis, Managing Partner & CEO, and Laura Davis, Managing Partner & Investor Relations, at RENEW, about the history of the firm, its strategy, measuring the impact of their investments and RENEW’s plans and goals for the next few years.
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December 2020
AVCA speaks to Yasmin Kumi, Chief Executive & Founder, and Rasheeda Seshie, Chief People Officer, at Africa Foresight Group, about the firm’s inception, freelancing, plans over the next few years, and sectors and markets in Africa that present opportunities for growth.
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November 2020
AVCA speaks with Paulo Martelli, Chief Investment Officer at FinDev Canada, about the firm’s vision, strategy, priority areas for the next year and development impact.
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October 2020
AVCA speaks to Rajan Rosick, one of the Directors of Trident Trust’s long-standing Mauritius office and Karine Seguin, Head of Fund Services Business Development in Europe at Trident Trust, about their role as a fund administrator, trends in fund domiciliation and key developments in Africa.
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September 2020
AVCA speaks with Paras Shah, Partner at Bowmans, about the firm’s history and expertise, the state of the private equity industry and the impact of COVID-19.
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August 2020
AVCA speaks with Rajaa Berrkia, Director of Sustainability at Mediterrania Capital Partners, to learn more about the firm’s unique ESG and sustainability approach, as well as the impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on ESG targets in the private equity industry in Africa.
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July 2020
AVCA speaks with Ladé Araba, Managing Director for Africa at Convergence to learn more about the history of the network, how blended finance can be applied, and its role in achieving Africa’s development goals.
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June 2020
AVCA talks with Marc Immerman, Director, Metier Private Equity on the firm’s origins, its fundraising lessons and emerging sectors in Africa’s private equity industry.
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May 2020
We talk with David Owino, Founding Partner at Ascent Capital Africa about the firm’s origins, its continued commitment to East Africa, its recent co-investment strategy with Fanisi Capital, and the impacts of COVID-19 on its operations.
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May 2020
We speak with Alexandre Alfonsi, Founding Partner at Axonia Partners about the firm’s history, its successes, the impact of COVID-19 on Africa’s fundraising space, and why they are committed to Africa.
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April 2020
AVCA speaks to Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes, Founder & Managing Partner, Aruwa Capital Management on the firm’s ethos, investment model, investment wins and hopes for Africa’s private capital industry’s future.
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March 2020
We speak with Naana Frimpong, Counsel, Special Matters, and Government Investigations practice at King & Spalding about the firm’s history and expertise in African-focused investigations, arbitrations, and transactions, as well as her insights on recent and future regulatory trends in Africa’s private equity industry.
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February 2020
AVCA speaks to Ayodeji Oyetunde, Partner, Aluko & Oyetunde on the firm’s history, ambitions and the evolution of Nigeria’s private investment industry.
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January 2020
AVCA speaks to Osama Ezzo, Managing Director of Nile Development and Investment on the fund’s investment strategy, approach to value creation and the industry’s challenge of mobilising local capital.
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November 2019
AVCA talks with Angeli Arora, Africa Regional Leader from Dentons on the impact of Brexit on investments into Africa, what sets Dentons apart and their plans to become the first pan-African law firm owned and controlled by Africans.
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October 2019
AVCA speaks with Adeniyi Adenubi, Executive Director – Institutional Business and Investor Relations and Gbenga Omolokun, Chief Operating Officer at VFD Group Plc on the realities of value creation within Nigeria’s informal finanical sector, their recent exit from Germaine Auto Center and their future hopes for the expansion of the Group.
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September 2019
AVCA speaks with Hassane Muhieddine, CEO Financial Services Cluster at the Axian Group, about the Group’s rationale for diversifying in private equity, its experiences investing into Africa and its hopes for the future
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August 2019
AVCA speaks to Antoine Delaporte, Managing Partner at Adenia Partners about what to consider when investing in Africa, the firm’s future focus and hopes for the industry.
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July 2019
AVCA speaks to Matthew Boadu Adjei, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Oasis Capital Ghana on the importance of Africa’s SME market, their capital raising experience and hopes for the future.
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June 2019
AVCA speaks to Roshan Nathoo, Managing Director at Rogers Capital Corporate Services on the future of Mauritius investment status, trends in Africa’s private investment industry and Rogers Capital’s future.
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May 2019
AVCA speaks to Richard Putley, Managing Director at Executives in Africa on what it takes to succeed within the African recruitment industry, the industry challenges and his hopes for its future.
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April 2019
AVCA speaks to Chike Obianwu, Partner of Templars about the firm’s history, new legislation moving the Nigerian private equity and venture equity ecosystem forward and their hopes for the industry.
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January 2019
In this issue, AVCA speaks to Anuoluwapo Balogun, Partner of Olaniwun Ajayi LP, about the recent efforts of the Nigerian government and regulatory bodies to improve the country’s investment environment.
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November 2018
AVCA speaks with Medina Jett, Founder and President about the role of the global compliance trends on the African private equity (PE) industry and how raising the African PE compliance standards can change investor perceptions in a post Abraaj world
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September 2018
AVCA speaks with Idan Segal & Yolande Tabo about breaking barriers in the ICT industry and their goals for the future.
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May 2018
AVCA speaks with Paul Boynton, Chief Executive Officer of OMAI about the strategy for its funds, diversification, and the role of public-private in realising Africa’s long-term growth.
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February 2018
In this AVCA Member Interview, we speak to co-founders William Hunnam and Lanre Oloniniyi about digital adoption in Africa’s investment ecosystem, and the key role Orbitt plays in this transformation.
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January 2018
Established in 2009, Injaro Investments (Injaro) is a private equity firm focused on SME investments in Africa. Injaro is derived from Kilimanjaro, which means ‘mountain of greatness’ in Swahili. AVCA speaks to Jerry Parkes, Chief Executive Officer and Dadié Tayoraud, Chief Operating Officer, about Injaro’s unique approach to investing in African agribusiness.
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November 2017
AVCA speaks to Derrick Roper, Chief Executive Officer and Ola Leepile, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, about real estate investing in Africa and the firm’s outlook on the sector.
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October 2017
AVCA speaks to Natalie Kolbe, Partner, Head of Private Equity, David Cooke, Partner, Private Equity, and Lucy Heintz, Partner, Head of Africa Energy, about the benefits of consumer-led investing, strategic alignment in exit planning, and scaling African businesses through private equity.
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August 2017
ARM-Harith Infrastructure Investment Limited (ARMHIIL) is the fund manager of the ARM-Harith Infrastructure Fund (ARMHIF), a closed-ended specialist infrastructure fund established by Asset & Resource Management Company Limited of Nigeria (ARM), in partnership with Harith General Partners Proprietary Limited (Harith) of South Africa. ARMHIIL is based in Nigeria and Ghana, and has over 70 years of proven infrastructure experience in Africa and globally.
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April 2017
Founded in 1948 and owned by the UK Government, CDC Group (CDC) is the UK’s Development Finance Institution (DFI) and one of the most experienced DFIs in the world. CDC provides patient capital to businesses and entrepreneurs in Africa and South Asia, primarily to facilitate job creation and sustainable development.
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January 2017
Capria Ventures (Capria) is a global financial services innovator investing in fund managers who are focused on financing missing middle” opportunities in emerging markets. Capria manages Capria Accelerator, the first global business accelerator for impact fund managers; Capria Fund, which provides seed capital to fund managers and also acts as an investor in promising emerging market funds.
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October 2016
Jackson, Etti & Edu is a leading full-service commercial law firm that covers West Africa from its three offices in Nigeria and an associate office in Ghana. Celebrating its 20th Anniversary, the firm is recognised for its high calibre professional services, drawing on a unique knowledge of the business environment and socio-political climate in Africa.
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August 2016
Musa Group is an Africa-focused private equity (PE) investor and corporate finance adviser co-founded by William Jimerson, a trail blazer in the African private equity industry. Launched in 1995, Musa Capital principally focuses on small and medium-sized enterprises with the concentration of its investments being in affordable housing, the food value chain, fast moving consumer goods, retail financial services and logistics. AVCA talks to William Jimerson, Chief Executive Officer, and Richard Akwei, Head of Fund Management, about Musa Capital’s investment legacy and their perspective on the investment climate in Africa.
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July 2016
Simmons & Simmons LLP (Simmons & Simmons) is a global law firm with 22 offices spanning Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and an extensive track record operating across all 54 African countries. Noro-Lanto Ravisy is Head of Private Equity (PE) and Partner in the Paris office of the firm. Born and raised in Madagascar, Noro-Lanto has more than 15 years’ experience advising private equity (PE) funds. AVCA talks to Noro-Lanto about Simmons & Simmons’ footprint in PE, and her expectations for the future.
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June 2016
African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM) is a private equity infrastructure investment firm that invests in a range of projects across Africa, including thermal and renewable power generation and transmission, gas pipelines, roads, ports and communication infrastructure. AIIM has been investing in Africa for over 16 years, making it one of the largest and longest-running African infrastructure fund managers. AVCA talks with Jurie Swart, Chief Executive Officer at AIIM, about Africa’s infrastructure deficit and why this sector has substantial potential for investment.
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April 2016
Cepheus Growth Capital Partners (Cepheus) is a private equity (PE) fund manager established in 2016 to take advantage of the growing investment opportunities in Ethiopia. Founded by Ethiopian-born Managing Partners, Kassy Kebede and Berhane Demissie, Cepheus is raising its first Ethiopia-focused fund to target the manufacturing, agriculture / agro-processing, and consumer service sectors. Kassy and Berhane talk to AVCA about the economic and growth potential of their home country.
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March 2016
Purple Capital Partners Limited (Purple Capital) is an investment firm specialising in Real Estate and Financial Services, based in Lagos, Nigeria. Founded in 2013, the firm is currently raising its first private equity (PE) fund. Obinna Onunkwo and Laide Agboola, the Managing Partners, talk to AVCA about how they are leveraging their experience to harness Nigeria’s exciting investment prospects.
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February 2016
Since 1967, Centum Investment Company Limited (Centum), a Kenyan listed investment company, has been focused on generating strong returns for its investors through high-growth and scalable investments in East Africa. The company aims to grow its total assets under management from US$300mn in 2015 to US$1.2bn by 2019 by investing across eight target sectors.
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January 2016
Charles Russell Speechlys is an international law firm headquartered in the city of London, formed by the 2014 merger of Charles Russell and Speechly Bircham. The firm's Africa operations are run by the Africa Focus Group, based in London, which works with private equity institutions, management teams and acquisition finance providers on all aspects of domestic and international transactions.
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November 2015
Àrgentil Capital Partners (Àrgentil) is a Nigerian financial advisory firm specialising in corporate, project and infrastructure finance, and mergers and acquisitions. In April 2015, Àrgentil launched its first private equity fund focused on the energy sector in West and Central Africa.
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August 2015
Control Risks is a global risk and strategic consulting firm with more than 30 years experience in Africa. With a network of consultants in every African country, Control Risks operates from three local offices in Lagos, Nairobi and Johannesburg.
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July 2015
Mediterrania Capital Partners provides growth capital to small and mid-sized companies based in North Africa’s Maghreb region with aspirations to expand into sub-Saharan Africa. The firm founded in 2013 when the current team, who had been investing in Africa since 2008, spun off from Riva y Garcia, a Spanish financial boutique.
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June 2015
LeapFrog Investments (LeapFrog) is a leading investor in emerging markets financial services, investing in insurance and related financial companies who reach over 48 million people across Africa and Asia. The firm, which has a dual purpose of achieving top-tier financial returns and positive social impact, seeks opportunities across sub-Saharan Africa and in emerging Asia.
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May 2015
Clifftop Colony Capital Partners (Clifftop Colony) is an independent corporate finance, investment advisory and operational financial management firm focused on growth companies in sub-Saharan Africa. Oliver Drews launched Clifftop Colony in 2012, following a long and successful career in global investment banking.
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April 2015
DEG is one of the Development Finance Institutions (DFI) that has been leading investments in Africa since the 1960s. Today it is part of KfW, the German promotional bank. DEG’s mission is to create sustainable growth in developing and emerging market countries by promoting business initiatives. Of the 100 emerging and developing market private equity (PE) funds in its portfolio, 25 are African.
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April 2015
Swicorp is a financial services group offering investment banking, private equity (PE) and asset management services across the Middle East and North Africa. To date, the firm has raised over €1bn of private equity capital and its move into sub-Saharan Africa is being led by its PE team.
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March 2015
Pantheon is a leading global private equity (PE) fund investor with over US$31bn in assets under management. Pantheon’s assets are diversified across a range of primary, secondary, infrastructure and co-investment activities.
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February 2015
Agri-Vie, a private equity investor in the food and agribusiness sector, was co-founded by Herman Marais and Izak Strauss in 2007, soon thereafter joined by Avril Stassen. With Fund I now fully invested, Herman Marais talks about the road so far and what lies ahead for Agri-Vie.
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February 2015
Joseph Boateng, a fund management industry veteran, joined Casey Family Programs as Chief Investment Officer in 2007, bringing the Foundation’s previously outsourced US$2bn fund management programme in-house.
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February 2015
Kibo Capital Partners (Kibo Capital) is a private equity company based in Kenya and Mauritius that invests in SMEs and mid-market companies in Eastern and Southern Africa and Indian Ocean islands. Christoph Evard, Partner at Kibo Capital, who joined prior to the launch of Kibo Fund II, talks to AVCA about what lies ahead.
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November 2014
Verod Capital is a generalist private equity firm based in Lagos, Nigeria which invests in Nigerian companies with the objective of expanding many of them into sub-Saharan Africa. AVCA talks with Danladi Verheijen, co-Founder and Managing Director, about Verod Capital’s journey.
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October 2014
DOB Equity is a growth equity funder investing in companies that positively contribute to a more social and sustainable society, and that deliver long-term profitability. The fund is an evergreen vehicle and all proceeds from investments are reinvested back into the fund, making DOB Equity a true long-term growth partner to portfolio companies.
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October 2014
Kusuntu Partners (Kusuntu) is a Paris-based advisory firm specialising in assisting private institutions to access the vast investment opportunity set in Africa. We speak with Jean-Luc Koffi Vovor, Kusuntu’s Managing Partner and co-Founder, about how Kusuntu is supporting the growth of the private investment industry in Africa.
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September 2014
STC Partners is a Paris-based law firm with significant experience in assisting French and foreign investment funds in managing transactions, with or without leverage, in both listed and unlisted companies. STC Partners also helps private equity portfolio companies in their expansion phase, and provides private equity firms with end-to-end assistance on exit.
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July 2014
Intercontinental Trust Limited (ITL) was established in Mauritius in 1999 to provide a comprehensive range of financial and fiduciary services to international businesses. ITL has expanded its presence to Kenya, the Seychelles, Singapore, and South Africa, and serves a range of Africa-focused private equity funds, with targeted capital commitments of approximately US$5.5 billion.
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June 2014
Augentius is a global independent private equity and real estate fund administrator with offices in Mauritius, London, Belfast, British Virgin Islands, Cayman, Cyprus, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Jersey, Luxembourg, New York, Singapore, and The Netherlands.
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May 2014
International Financial Services Limited (IFS) was founded in December 1993 by Kapil Dev Joory and Couldip Basanta Lala at a time when the global business sector was nascent in Mauritius. The focus initially was to provide fund administration and support services for Indian investments.
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April 2014
When Venture Partners Botswana (VPB) was founded in 2002, it was the first dedicated private equity and venture capital fund manager in Botswana. The firm now invests in businesses across the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and is raising for its third fund, VPB III, which will target regionally-focused companies operating in consumer-driven, high growth sectors.
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RT @CDCgroup: This week we announced that G7 development finance institutions and multilateral partners, are investing a combined $80bn in…
RT @TLcomCapital: African tech through the lens of @AVCA_Africa's 2020 Data Tracker🔎: - $6.5bn worth of investments (2015 - 2020) - 55% o…
RT @FSDAfrica: We are hosting a stakeholders workshop with @EFInA_Nigeria and @GSMAm4d, @WFP, facilitated by @siaedge to share insights f…
AVCA Member News: African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM) make follow-on investment in MetroFibre Networx… https://t.co/kWOgUrHz3m
RT @CDCgroup: We're welcoming @alueducation Founder @FredSwaniker to our next Insight event. Fred will be discussing the role of leadership…