ATLANTIC COAST REGIONAL FUND
AFIG is currently raising the Atlantic Coast Regional Fund (“ACRF”or the “Fund”), a $150 million regional fund focused on 29 countries on or near the African Coast of the Atlantic Ocean from Morocco to Angola (the “Region”). The Fund will target strong growth companies operating in West and Central Africa, preferably with a regional scope. ACRF will consider investments in all sectors, with particular focus on industrial firms, financial institutions and companies investing in infrastructure and other related sectors. Target companies will be mature and cash-flow generative companies operating in sectors with high entry barriers and/or enjoying market dominance. In addition, target companies will exhibit a proven track record in terms of managerial competence, satisfactory and measurable performance and a solid business plan.
Geographic Focus
The geographical focus of the Fund’s investments (the “Region”) will be the Economic Community of West African States (“ECOWAS”) and the Economic Community of Central African States (“ECCAS”) regions of sub-Saharan Africa. The Region will also include Morocco, Mauritania, Rwanda and Uganda (the “Economically Integrated Countries”.)
Within the Region, the Fund has identified the following 8 core countries (the “Core Countries”) in which it intends to invest a significant share of its Commitments:
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- ECOWAS: Nigeria, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, and Ghana;
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- ECCAS: Cameroon, Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Angola
The Core Countries were selected for the following characteristics:
- They are economic anchors within the Region (collectively, they represent more than 60% of the GDP of the Region);
- They are expected to exhibit robust GDP growth (except for Cote d’Ivoire which is rebounding from recent internal strife);
- Several of the companies the Fund is targeting are headquartered or have significant activities in the core countries.
Core countries are trade gateways to other countries of the Region and have significant port installations and trade activities with their neighbors.
