Research in Africa’s equity grows

Nova Capital Equity Research has joined the growing list of initiatives being lined up to conduct research in the industry on the continent. Besides proprietary market intelligence on Africa, the firm, a subsidiary of Nova Capital Global Markets, will also provide “thought leadership.”

Nova Capital Global Markets, is an emerging markets investment bank, serving large and middle market companies throughout Africa as well as Central and Eastern Europe and parts of Asia.

It has been operating in Africa for over a decade with offices in Johannesburg and hopes to set up a base in Nairobi.

This is the third such initiative to be launched in recent days. The African Venture Capital Association (AVCA) and Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (EMPEA) have separately launched other research initiatives.

While AVCA has entered into a partnership with Cambridge Associates, a global industry research and advisory firm to publish quarterly performance data on African private equity and venture capital; EMPEA selected the Private Capital Research Institute (PCRI) as a strategic partner to conduct academic research on the industry.

The newest player on the block, Nova Capital Equity Research (NCER), on the other hand intends to provide hedge funds, money managers, private equity firms, and multinational corporations with context that is designed to measure political and economic risk as well as providing an understanding of the cultural nuances of this dynamic market.

Analysis

A statement from NCER indicated that its multi-layered sector and company analysis provides investors with direct access to leading publicly traded companies as well as many privately-held companies in key sectors such as mining, energy, telecommunications, infrastructure, and financial services.

It describes the continent as an “increasingly relevant emerging market” that is integrating fully into the global economic community as a significant provider of natural resources.

“This is the last real investment frontier, yet it still remains shrouded in mystery to much of the institutional investment community. We believe that our African-centric research is a product whose time has come. Our research is a real ‘value-add’ to investors due to the depth of our reach throughout Africa.

We are working from the ‘inside-out’ not the other way around,” says Nova’s Senior managing partner, David S Levin.

When it launched its product jointly with AVCA, senior research consultant and co-head of international private equity and venture capital research at Cambridge Associates, Ralph Jaeger, said this would broaden and deepen the industry’s awareness of private equity and venture capital in Africa.

Opportunities

“Assessing the attractiveness of private equity and venture capital in Africa will allow investors to better identify local and regional investment opportunities,” Mr Jaeger added.

The chief executive officer of AVCA, Michelle Kathryn Essome, said by promoting the dissemination of robust, reliable data on private equity and venture capital in Africa, it would help promote additional transparency and independent benchmarking for the benefit of the industry.