Investors to meet in Nairobi

Businessmen from East Africa meet in the Kenyan capital to discuss investment opportunities in Africa next week.

The meeting, which brings together representatives from pension funds, insurance companies and regulatory bodies in the region, will be held between 18th and 19th, this month, in Nairobi.

The two-day meeting is organized by Commonwealth Secretariat, African Development Bank, African Venture Capital Association and Aureos Capital among others.

Explaining the importance of the meeting, David Ashiagbor, an economic advisor at the Commonwealth Secretariat, said Sub-Saharan Africa was one of the biggest growth stories in emerging markets private equity.

Ashiagbor said fundraising activity by private equity fund managers in Sub-Saharan Africa had almost tripled from $800 million in 2005 to over US$2.2 billion in 2008, reaching $1 billion in the first half of 2009.

Despite the growth raising funds fund from African institutional companies still remains a big challenge.

The situation has been worsened by the hard economic times, caused by a combination of factors, which has made it difficult for private companies to attract funding for critical activities like acquiring new technology, expanding working capital or strengthening the balance sheet.

Martin Poulsen, Chief Private Equity Officer of the African Development Bank, co-sponsor of the meeting, said the problem needed to be addressed, adding that the meeting would help unlock the untapped potential from African investors.

Poulsen said the growth in fundraising had been led by development finance institutions, international commercial banks, pension funds and even private investors.

The meeting aims to introduce participants to private equity, familiarize participants with the private equity industry in Africa and provide an opportunity to meet fund managers, investors and other stakeholders.

Others are to provide participants with an understanding of the structure of private equity funds, their operations and governance.

Financial experts from the International Finance Corporation (Washington DC), CDC Capital Partners (London), South Suez Capital (Johannesburg) and the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (Washington DC) will address the meeting.