The African Development Bank (AfDB) approved on Tuesday 17 December an equity participation of up to USD 25 million in the Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund 2 (PAIDF 2).

PAIDF2 is a Private Equity Fund that will invest in projects across the power, transport, water and sanitation, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and healthcare infrastructure sectors throughout Africa.

In 2007, the Bank approved an investment of USD 50 million in the Pan-African Development Fund (PAIDF 1), a Private Equity Fund investing in infrastructure projects across the continent. Harith General Partners of South Africa was established as the fund manager of PAIDF 1, which is now almost fully committed in nine transactions. Through its participation in PAIDF 2, AfDB will leverage on the quality of the investment platform, the experience of the team and the strength of the project sourcing networks developed by Harith over the past six years.

According to the Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic study, USD93 billion need to be invested annually in order to address the continent's infrastructure deficit. A key challenge for the development of private infrastructure projects is the limited access to private financing and in particular equity and quasi-equity instruments.

AfDB considers Harith is one of the most experienced teams on the continent, which has a pipeline ready for deployment.

Tshepo Mahloele, Chief Executive Officer of Harith General Partners, emphasized:

"We are of the firm view that our continued partnership with AfDB will unlock even more game changing infrastructure projects as is evident with the likes of the Lake Turkana Wind Power Project in Kenya and the Henri Konan Bédié Toll Bridge in Abidjan."

Samuel Ekue Mivedor, Manager of the Portfolio Division of the Bank's Private Sector Department underscored:

"The Bank is building on the experience gained by Harith as a team over the past six years in order to invest strategically and pragmatically in power, transport, ICT, water and sanitation, as well as health infrastructure projects across the continent."

The African Development Bank (AfDB) recently approved a US$20 million equity investment in the ARM-Harith Infrastructure Fund (ARMHIF), a fund managed by Asset and Resource Management Company Ltd. (ARM), a leading Nigerian non-bank financial services and Harith General Partners. The fund focuses on Nigeria.