Alterra Capital Partners has successfully raised an initial sum of $140 million for its ambitious $500 million fund. This fund is set to make strategic investments across various sectors in Africa, including telecommunications, technology, logistics, healthcare, consumer goods, and retail.
Notably, this endeavor has attracted prominent investors such as Aliko Dangote, David Rubenstein, and Bill Conway.
Among the contributors to the fund are Norfund AS, Standard Bank Group Ltd., International Finance Corp., Germany’s Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft GmbH, and Allianz SE’s AfricaGrow fund.
The inception of Alterra Capital Partners
The inception of Alterra Capital Partners dates back to 2020 when a group of former Carlyle Group professionals, including Genevieve Sangudi, Eric Kump, Idris Mohammed, and Bruce Steen, established the firm. Interestingly, Carlyle Group, which had previously launched a $700 million Africa-focused fund in 2014, concluded its African ventures in 2020.
Despite its withdrawal from the African market, Alterra Capital Partners continued to serve as sub-advisors for Carlyle’s Africa fund. Notable investments from this partnership included a substantial $147 million injection into Diamond Bank and J&J Transport.
Genevieve Sangudi, one of the founders of Alterra Capital Partners, expressed optimism about the investment landscape in Africa. She stated, “This is an excellent time to put money to work in Africa, as many of the current macro themes provide attractive potential investment opportunities.
For example, the power challenges across Africa provide opportunities to invest in private distributed power solutions, while technology continues to drive Africa’s digital transformation at a rapid pace.”
Sangudi further highlighted the firm’s impressive track record, having returned $600 million to its investors, completed successful exits with six companies, and invested approximately $1 billion in 23 companies.
Conclusion
While several major private equity firms have either scaled back their African investments or completely exited the continent, Carlyle Group is adapting its strategy to navigate the unique business environment.
The firm has plans to allocate 50% of its funds to companies primarily generating revenue in dollars, as a safeguard against currency depreciation in Africa.
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