Helios raises $900m for African investment

The largest ever amount of money for a new private equity fund targeting Africa has been raised by Helios Investment Partners with a $900 million investment vehicle, reports FT.com.

Helios closes its fund at a time of investor optimism about Africa's prospects, with more than 10 African economies forecast by the African Development Bank to grow at more than 7% this year; while the developed world faces sluggish performance.

Growth has been spurred by soaring world prices for commodities in abundance in Africa as well as the rapid expansion of banking, telecoms and other services.

The Wall Street Journal says the fund will focus on high-growth sectors that have been deregulated and are core to the African economy.

Helios has identified sectors including technology, media and telecommunications, financial services, power and utilities, distribution and logistics and consumer goods.

Helios II has already made three investments: Nigeria's payment-processing company Interswitch; it has set up Helios Towers Africa, which builds and operates telecoms-tower businesses across Africa; and the acquisition of Continental Outdoor Media.

According to MarketWatch, Helios' co-founder Tope Lawani says fundraising has been challenging over the last few years, as it has been for all private equity funds.

However, he notes the firm's track record and the fact that its portfolio companies continued to perform well during the downturn meant that its second fund was substantially oversubscribed.