The opportunities for private sector-led growth in Africa, the benefits of private equity buyouts as attractive entry strategies, and the focus of strategic investors in Africa were key themes discussed by Honore Dainhi, the president of Supreme Group’s Commercial Division, during a keynote speech at the Private Equity in Africa event that was held recently in London.
The overriding theme of the conference was a debate around the role of private equity in the African growth story, and to what extent it will generate enhanced returns over the medium to long term as the markets mature and new market dynamics emerge.
“Africa is full of opportunity, especially in regards to the fast growing middle-class and the huge increase in consumer spending. We see this is an attractive landscape for private sector investments, especially in the consumer facing industries. Until recently, the bulk of the growth was associated with resources (oil, gas and minerals) and infrastructure. This is changing now with consumer facing sectors presenting the largest growth opportunity for the coming 10 years or so,” Dainhi says.
Supreme Group provides end to end supply chain solutions to governments and defence forces in challenging environments around the world. Supreme established a Commercial Division in 2013 with the objective of leveraging its proven expertise in the defence and government sector to broaden its portfolio in the commercial sector in emerging markets, with a particular focus on Africa. This will be achieved primarily by acquisitions, with target industries aligned to Supreme’s core competencies, specifically food manufacturing and marketing, non-alcoholic beverages, fuel marketing, and store-based retail.
“Supreme Group has been operating in Africa for more than 20 years, and we have developed bespoke capabilities and a solid understanding of the local markets and business environment. Our successful entrepreneurial experience and strategic mindset means that we have the same DNA as the owners of the target companies we are pursuing. We are planning to make long term investments that are focused on growth and partnerships,” Dainhi says.
