AfricInvest closes fourth North African fund

AfricInvest has closed its fourth North African fund at 194 million euros. Maghreb Private Equity IV’s investors include the African Development Bank. MPEF IV will invest in small and media companies in North Africa.

PRESS RELEASE

5 December 2018

AfricInvest, a leading pan-African mid-cap-focused private equity firm, is pleased to announce the final close of its North African Fund, Maghreb Private Equity IV (“MPEF IV”). The African Development Bank joined the third and final investment round, committing EUR20m to the fund and taking the fund’s total capital commitments to EUR194m, in line with the fund’s target size.

MPEF IV is a 10-year fund managed by AfricInvest. It will invest in small and medium enterprises in North Africa (including Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia), looking to take substantial minority stakes. The fund’s strategy will target companies that are well-established in their local markets and have the potential to scale up their activities at the regional level, in the Mediterranean basin, and across the African continent.

The fund reached a first close of EUR152m in November 2017 and a second close of EUR173m in October 2018. In addition to the African Development Bank, fund backers include: CDC UK, EBRD, FMO, DEG, EIB, IFC, BIO, IFU, SIFEM, Proparco (first close), OeEB and a prominent South African fund of funds (second close).

AfricInvest Founding Partner Ziad Oueslati commented, “The MPEF IV final close is a powerful affirmation of our LPs’ continued support for the North Africa region and their belief that North African companies can create significant value across and beyond the region.”

Executive Partner Brahim El Jai added, “We are particularly happy to welcome our long-standing partner, the African Development Bank, to the fund. This new commitment will enable the MPEF IV team to continue identifying, screening, funding and supporting the most promising entrepreneurs and innovators across North Africa.”

“MPEF IV is a vehicle perfectly aligned with our strategic goals to strengthen the capabilities of ambitious midsize companies in North Africa to expand into new markets in sub-Saharan Africa,” said Dr. Abdu Mukhtar, Director of Industrial and Trade Development at the African Development Bank, adding, “Our investment in MPEF IV will enable the growth of high value cross-border investment and strengthen regional linkages, generating valuable foreign exchange and stimulating job creation.”

About MPEF IV
MPEF IV is a 10-year fund managed by AfricInvest. It will invest in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in North Africa (including Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia), looking to take substantial minority stakes. The fund’s strategy will target companies that are well-established in their local markets and that have the potential to scale up their activities at the regional level, in the Mediterranean basin, and across the African continent. By investing in firms showing strong growth potential and with the ambition to expand regionally and internationally, MPEF IV will contribute to the creation of significant value within the companies and to the positive impact they have on their local communities. MPEF IV investments will endeavour to improve SME governance and increase foreign-exchange receipts, and at the same time, create new jobs, increase government tax revenues and more broadly foster regional economic integration. The fund will invest in a range of sectors, with a strong preference for companies focused on export growth. Targeted sectors include IT and telecoms, FMCG, healthcare, education, logistics, agribusiness and a broad range of services (financial, business processing and others). In addition, MPEF IV will aim to promote environmental, social and governance best practices as well as economic inclusion in its portfolio companies.

About AfricInvest
AfricInvest was founded in 1994 and is today among the leading private equity firms in North and Sub-Saharan Africa with around 1.5 billion USD of assets under management across 18 PE funds and sponsored by prestigious DFIs, private and institutional investors from Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. AfricInvest relies on a team of 70 highly skilled investment professionals with over 130 years of cumulative PE experience, operating out of nine offices in Algiers, Cairo, Casablanca, Abidjan, Lagos, Nairobi, London, and Paris. AfricInvest is a co-founder of the Tunisian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (ATIC, www.atic.org.tn), the Moroccan Private Equity Association (AMIC, www.amic.org.ma), the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (www.avca-africa.org), the East African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (www.eavca.org), and the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (www.empea.org), and is a member of the Euromed Capital Forum (www.euromed-capital.com).
www.africinvest.com

About the African Development Bank Group
The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group is the premier development finance institution in Africa with a mandate to spur sustainable economic development and social progress in the continent, thereby contributing to poverty reduction. The Bank Group achieves this objective by mobilizing and allocating resources for investment in the continent; and providing policy advice and technical assistance to support development efforts. The African Development Bank’s authorized capital of around US$100 billion is subscribed to by 80 member countries made up of 54 African countries and 26 non-African countries.