AVCA report reveals performance of Africa's PE industry in first half of 2020
The African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA) today released its 2020 H1 African Private Equity Data Tracker report. The report provides data on private equity (PE) fundraising, deals and exits in Africa in the first half of 2020 and reflects on the macroeconomic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the continent.
At the beginning of 2020, Africa had a positive macroeconomic outlook, with predictions of economic growth across the continent averaging 3.9% in 2020 and 4.1% in 2021. The Covid-19 pandemic has since stifled these projections.
“As the report indicates, the pandemic has had an adverse impact on African markets in the first half of 2020. Supply chain disruptions and lockdowns have greatly affected the private sector and markets’ macroeconomic prospects. Against this challenging backdrop, Africa’s PE industry remained resilient in 2020 H1 with $1.1 billion of funds raised, including both final and interim closes, and 81 PE deals reported on the continent over the same period, totalling $0.7 billion in value. Africa’s PE industry has successfully navigated global challenges in the past, and we expect PE and VC firms to continue supporting Africa’s economies by investing across the continent,” says Dara Owoyemi, interim CEO of AVCA.
The report also indicates that financials, information technology and consumer discretionary were the most active sectors, attracting 49% of deals by volume with technology-enabled companies representing 51% of the investments. Meanwhile, North Africa attracted the largest share of PE deals by both volume and value, followed by West Africa.
The largest share of the PE deals by value was in the healthcare sector (24%), led by the Mediterrania Capital Partners’ and others investment into MetaMed, the largest platform of diagnostic imaging centres in Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
PE exits dropped to 13 from 25 in 2019 H1. However, some notable exits in the first half of the year include: Adenia Partners’ exit from Mauvilac, the Mauritian paint manufacturer, to the Dutch multinational company AkzoNobel; and Actis’ exit from GHL Bank, a full-scale commercial bank in Ghana, to First National Bank Ghana.
During the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond, Africa’s PE industry will continue to fulfil its role in providing capital, creating value and delivering growth for companies across the continent, providing a much-needed boost to Africa’s economies.
The 2020 H1 African Private Equity Data Tracker report is sponsored by Trident Trust.
For more information, and to download the report, please click here.
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