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Ninety One, the asset management firm which manages the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund, has raised $260 million in a first close of its third Africa-focused credit fund. Commitments came from International Finance Corp., British International Investment and the Swiss Investment Fund for Emerging Markets or SIFEM, managed by Swiss impact investor responsAbility. The deal includes a $45 million sustainability-linked loan from the Standard Bank of South Africa.
Capital shifts
Private infrastructure capital has quadrupled in the last decade, hitting $129 billion in 2021. However, most of the capital has been raised and deployed in North America and Europe. Africa, Latin America and Oceania investment barely budged.
Africa Credit Opportunities, or ACO Fund 3, is looking to address these capital gaps for Africa and capitalize on infrastructure demand on the continent. “The fundamentals for emerging market investments are remarkably supportive,” argues Ninety One’s Martijn Proos. “Emerging markets have high urbanization rates, a growing need to transition and significant funding shortfalls, all of which make for a great investment opportunity.”
Project finance
Ninety One says it has raised $700 million and deployed, with partners, over $1.2 billion across 20 countries via its Africa and emerging market-focused credit opportunities strategy. ACO Fund 3 will provide senior debt for the water, energy, transport, telecommunications and housing sectors.
The fund, says Ninety One’s Nathaniel Micklem, has “demonstrated the ability to generate stable real returns, outperforming the public and private credit benchmarks after costs, while developing the capital markets in which it operates.”
The firm launched a South Africa-focused infrastructure credit fund in March this year to fund both public and private sector infrastructure.
