(Ecofin Agency) - Private equity firm LeapFrog Investments plans to raise $800 million for its third Africa-focused fund dedicated to financial services, Bloomberg reported on December 13, citing one the firm’s officials.

“Overseas Private Investment Corp., the Washington-based development financing unit of the U.S. government, has approved an investment of as much as $200 million in the fund, the buyout company’s third,” said Karima Olokun-Ola, a partner at LeapFrog in London. She added that the investment fund seeks stakes in African banks, insurance brokers and payment companies.

“LeapFrog is betting there’s greater scope for investments among companies that target Africa’s emerging consumers because they are more than four times the size of the continent’s middle class,” she continued

Africa’s emerging consumers earn between $2 and $10 each day. They represent about 66% of the African population. Middle classes for their part represent less than 15% of the continent’s total population.

Mrs Olokun-Ola also said the LeapFrog Investments’ new fund would target mainly Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana. “New regulations requiring insurance companies in Kenya to hold more cash will createbuyout opportunities, while the continent’s largest population in Nigeria and more sophisticated consumers in Ghana make those markets attractive,” she said.

Specialized in financial services in Africa and Asia, LeapFrog invest mainly in companies that operate in the insurance, savings, pension, and payment services and with customers that earn less than $10 per day.

The firm whose majority shareholders are US billionaire George Soros and the JP Morgan bank invests average $30 million. Its investments generate in average a 25% return.