Africa-focused investment fund manager Development Partners International (DPI) announced it has closed its third African fund -African Development Partners III (ADP 3) at $1.15 billion. This amount is well above the $800 million it was hoping to raise. In addition to the $900 million in commitments, an additional $250 million will be provided as co-investment capital.

ADP 3 will invest in innovative and growing mid-sized African companies. It aims to build a diversified portfolio of 8 to 14 companies focused on key sectors of the African economy (financial services, healthcare, agribusiness, digital infrastructure, education, telecommunications...) and capable of seizing "investment opportunities on the continent."

“Africa remains an exciting investment destination with positive demographics, rising adoption of technology, and rising consumer and business spending,” said Runa Alam (pictured), managing director of DPI. African Development Partners III will continue the investment strategy of the first two funds. It will continue to expand its geographical scope to countries where capital investment is rather difficult. To date, the fund has made four investments in financial services (Channel VAS and MNT-Halan), agribusiness in Tunisia (Sicam) and healthcare (Kelix Bio).

This closing of ADP 3 comes almost a week after the partial sale of the British investor's shares in the Nigerian fast food company Food Concepts Plc.

Chamberline Moko