AVCA Facilities Deeper Relationships Between US LPs and Africa

London, United Kingdom, 18th March 2019: The African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association’s (AVCA) announced today its support for the Mobilising Institutional Investors to Develop Africa’s Infrastructure (MiDA) programme as part of its commitment to catalyse the flow of private investment into Africa.

MiDA is an investment programme launched in 2016 by the National Association of Securities Professionals (NASP) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) which exposes US institutional investors to the opportunities in Africa’s infrastructure sector. The total assets under management of NASP members equal close to US$3trn, equivalent to almost 40% of pension systems in the United States.

As part of its activities, MiDA is organising a delegation to Africa with US institutional investors from the Alameda County Employees’ Retirement Association, Board of Education Retirement System of the City of New York, Casey Family Program, Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund, City of Philadelphia, City and County of San Francisco Employees Retirement System, Police and Fire Retirement Systems City of Detroit, Texas Teachers Retirement System, and The University of Chicago Endowment.

The delegation’s trip will begin in Kenya, Nairobi, where the group will attend the 16^th Annual AVCA Conference. MiDA’s Managing Partner, Aymeric Saha, will take part in a panel discussion on capturing the opportunities of Africa’s infrastructure gap alongside Michael Gera, Managing Partner & Co-Founder, Energy Access Ventures and Jurie Swart, Chief Executive Officer, African Infrastructure Investment Managers.

Michelle Kathryn Essomé, Chief Executive Officer, AVCA noted, “AVCA plays a significant role in educating and connecting international investors on Africa’s diverse investment opportunities. We are proud to support MiDA, and hope that their trip will galvanise further commitments from US institutional investors in the near future.”

Aymeric Saha, Managing Director, MiDA added, “MiDA appreciate AVCA’s support and hopes this trip will create will deepen relationships between US investors and their African counterparts. By working in a collaborative manner, we can play our part in overcoming Africa’s infrastructure deficit.”