Ninety One’s Africa and emerging market-focused strategy has raised close to $700m (€668m) in capital across three different funds in the past decade.
Ninety One, the global investment manager, said the third vehicle of its Africa and emerging market focused credit opportunities (ACO) strategy had closed for investors after raising $260m (€247m).
Standard Bank acted as a credit provider for the ACO Fund 3, which also attracted the International Finance Corporation, British International Investment, and the Swiss Investment Fund for Emerging Markets, managed by responsAbility, as anchor limited partners.
The fund will focus on sustainable capital deployment in Africa and other emerging markets in order to boost economic development.
Ninety One’s ACO strategy “has demonstrated the ability to generate stable real returns, outperforming the public and private credit benchmarks after costs, whilst developing the capital markets in which it operates”, said Nathaniel Micklem, co-head of emerging market alternative credit at Ninety One.
$1.2bn in investments
Since its launch ten years ago, Ninety One’s ACO strategy has raised close to $700m across three funds. Combined, they have made more than $1.2bn in investments in over 20 countries, mostly in infrastructure and telecoms.
According to Ninety One, the strategy has achieved its return targets, while half of its investments contributed to the UN SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure).
Standard Bank provided the fund with a so-called sustainability-linked loan of $45m, which tied the cost of funding to the fund hitting certain climate/carbon and social impact targets.
Standard Bank
Neha Bantha, executive vice president at Standard Bank, said the debt facility her bank provided to the fund aligned with its “strategic objective to deliver innovative and market leading technology that combine our clients’ sustainability strategy with our banking solutions to enhance value for our clients, businesses, and society”.
By investing in market-leading companies and vital infrastructure, “we aim to enhance access to finance, bridge infrastructure gaps, and improve the overall investment climate,” said Kalina B. Miller, financial institutions group regional industry manager for Southern Africa at the IFC. “Together, we can unlock the potential of high value-adding sectors and drive sustainable development in the region.”
Anthony Njoroge, principal and co-head Africa Fund of Funds at responsAbility, said the investment highlighted “SIFEM’s strong commitment to advancing sustainable development in Africa, with responsAbility acting as SIFEM’s portfolio manager”.
