African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association’s Legal and Regulatory Committee builds Francophone and Arabophone expertise
London, March 26 2014: The African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA) today welcomes Rafik Mzah, Chief Legal Officer at North and sub-Saharan Africa private equity firm, AfricInvest Group, as the latest appointment to its Legal and Regulatory (L&R) Committee.
The AfricInvest Group was the first private equity fund management company in the Maghreb and is one of the leading players in Sub-Saharan Africa today, with over $750 million of assets under management and six offices across the continent: Tunis, Abidjan, Algiers, Casablanca, Lagos, and Nairobi.
On his appointment, Rafik Mzah said: “Since its launch in 2012, AVCA’s L&R Committee has come far in its mission to help AVCA members navigate the often complex legal and regulatory landscapes of African countries. The AfricInvest Group was one of the founding members of AVCA and we have always shared the view that private sector investment is key to the continent’s continued growth and development. I am proud to be joining the L&R Committee and look forward to working on future advocacy and educational initiatives for the benefit of AVCA members, the industry, and Africa.”
Further commenting, Mara Topping, co-Chair of the L&R Committee and Partner at White & Case, said: “Steered by its leadership team and Board of Directors, AVCA is continually working to galvanise and attract private sector investment to the African continent. The L&R Committee supports AVCA by providing, information, resources and regulatory updates to AVCA’s growing member base, to increase knowledge of the continent’s business environments and matters to be aware of when investing. The L&R Committee particularly welcomes the addition of Rafik’s wealth of private equity legal expertise, which will further allow us to support AVCA in its mission.”
Solomon Wifa, co-Chair of the L&R Committee and Partner at O’Melveny and Myers, continued: “Rafik is a very welcome and timely addition to the Committee as we push to extend the resources available to AVCA members for Francophone and Arabophone Africa, and Africa more broadly. In 2013, the L&R Committee launched a series of Private Equity Country Guides that covered Ghana, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Morocco, Tunisia and South Africa, and new Country Guides covering Kenya and Tanzania are being launched at the upcoming AVCA Conference in Lagos on 1 April. These guides provide foreign investors and managers in Africa with country-specific legal, regulatory and tax information, and we hope to develop Guides for the Francophone region in the near future.”
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Notes to Editors
About the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA)
AVCA’s mission is to promote and catalyse the private equity and venture capital industry in Africa.
AVCA is a member-supported organisation, with members spanning private equity and venture capital firms, institutional investors, foundations and endowments, international development finance institutions, professional service firms and academia. They are all united by a common purpose: to be part of the African growth story.
AVCA endeavours to deliver its mission through four key pillars: building a Knowledge Centre of independent research for members and the industry; facilitating Networking Opportunities and thought leadership Events; Advocating on behalf of the industry to policymakers, regulators and global investors; and by providing Training to investors and emerging fund managers on the asset class and best practice.
Together with a network of experts and collaborators across Africa and beyond, AVCA represents the voice of the pan-African industry in discussions with governments, regulators, lawmakers and the media.
www.avca-africa.org | www.avcaconference.com
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AVCA’s Legal & Regulatory Committee includes: Mara Topping (co-Chair), Partner, White & Case LLP; Solomon Wifa (co-Chair), Partner, O’Melveny & Myers LLP; Karim S. Anjarwalla, Managing Partner, Anjarwalla & Khanna; John Bellew, Partner, Webber Wentzel; Myma Belo-Osague, Managing Partner, Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie; Carolyn Campbell, Managing Director, Founding Partner and General Counsel, Emerging Capital Partners; Arnaud Duhamel, Partner, Gide Loyrette Nouel; Mark Kenderdine-Davies, General Counsel and Company Secretary, CDC Group plc; Rafik Mzah, Chief Legal Officer, AfricInvest Group; Bayo Odubeko, Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright; Geoffrey Burgess, Partner, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP; Patrick Deasy, Partner, King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin; Kelebogile Modise, Head of Private Equity Africa, BG Bowman Gilfillan.
