Angola’s sovereign wealth fund has partnered with asset manager Gemcorp Capital to establish a $500 million Africa-focused infrastructure fund, the two firms confirmed in a joint statement on Tuesday.
The new vehicle will target investments across the continent to channel more private capital into critical minerals, water systems, food security, the energy transition and related sectors.
“We are seeding some capital into this initiative… attracting other investors, particularly the (Gulf) players, into the vast opportunities that we have in the continent,” said Armando Manuel, chair of the Fundo Soberano de Angola (FSDEA), in comments to Reuters.
FSDEA plans to commit an initial $50 million, with the option to increase its contribution to $200 million, while London-based Gemcorp will invest up to $50 million.
The remaining capital will be sought from global investors looking to diversify away from what the partners described as “crowded” markets in the United States and Europe.
Gemcorp, which focuses on emerging markets, will manage the projects using its existing African platform and staff.
“The level of appetite that we’ve witnessed, whether it is pension schemes all the way in Nordic Europe, to investors in GCC to international institutional capital as well as family offices, is vast,” said Asad Hajiyev, Gemcorp’s senior executive officer in Abu Dhabi.
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The firm has invested in Angola for a decade and has also funded renewable energy, water sanitation projects and power transmission across Africa.
The new fund, named the Pan-African Infrastructure Fund, will be based in Abu Dhabi to tap into rising Gulf investment interest in Africa.
FSDEA currently manages about $4 billion in assets, according to GlobalSWF.
Established in 2011 with $5 billion and initially chaired by José Filomeno dos Santos, son of Angola’s former president, the fund was previously criticised for weak investments and lack of transparency.
Dos Santos was sentenced to five years in prison in 2020 for fraud and embezzlement.
Manuel said FSDEA is committed to strengthening governance and transparency and will “continue to spread the portfolio of the fund” beyond its current concentration in securities, bonds, shares and derivatives across U.S., European and Asian markets. “We have this responsibility to look to the continent,” he added.
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