Actis, the pan-emerging markets private equity firm, has confirmed the final close of its second African real estate fund, Actis Africa Real Estate 2, with total commitments of USD278m.
The fund will focus on retail and office developments in East, West and Southern Africa, excluding South Africa.
Actis’s ten person real estate team has already established a visible portfolio for the fund with developments in Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and Zambia. These include Ghana’s first green office building, One Airport Square in Accra, and East Africa’s largest retail centre, Garden City in Nairobi.
Paul Fletcher (pictured), senior partner at Actis, says: “The success of this fundraising against the backdrop of a highly competitive market demonstrates the confidence our investors rightly feel in both our real estate team, and the potential of Africa. This fund epitomises Actis’s broader investment thesis of building out domestic infrastructure in the emerging markets, and backing the rising discretionary wealth of the consumer classes. This feels like a pivotal moment for real estate as an asset class and we are delighted to have a product that is clearly so attractive to investors.”
