Lawyers from Carey Olsen's Guernsey corporate team have advised Development Partners International (DPI) on the establishment of African Development Partners III Fund, one of the largest funds ever raised to invest in global capital in Africa.
ADP III, which has exceeded its $800m target, held a final close at roughly $900m, with an additional $250m of dedicated co-investment capital secured.
The fund will invest in established and growing companies in industries that benefit from Africa's fast-growing middle class and increasing digital transformation. All investments will uphold high standards of impact and environmental, social and governance (ESG) work.
Working alongside onshore counsel Debevoise & Plimpton, the Carey Olsen team advised DPI on all Guernsey aspects of the fund's establishment as a closed-ended scheme and its subsequent launch.
The team was led by Partner Andrew Boyce, assisted by Senior Associate Vaishali Gupta and Associate Oliver Orton.
ADP III has made four investments to date, including Channel VAS, a global fintech business providing mobile financial services; SICAM, a Tunisian tomato producer; Kelix Bio, a biopharmaceutical platform broadening access to speciality generic drugs across Africa; and Egyptian fintech ecosystem MNT-Halan.
The fund secured capital from a broad range of pension and sovereign wealth funds, development finance institutions, endowment and foundations, insurance companies, fund-of-funds, asset managers, and impact investors. The global investor base represents 20 countries across North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa.