EIB $15m to focus on North Africa

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a commitment of $15m with the SPE Africa Industrialization I Fund (AIF I), a generalist private equity fund targeting primarily growth capital investments in SMEs and mid-market companies mainly in North Africa with a focus on Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia.
The fund’s first closing reached USD 80 million.

The fund manager, SPE Capital Partners, will adopt a hands-on value-adding investment strategy and will seek to acquire equity stakes in enterprises with robust growth potential in important sectors such as education, healthcare, manufacturing and services to meet their investment needs.

The fund seeks to contribute to the development of the private sector in North Africa by increasing access to capital for local SMEs and mid-market companies. Additionally, the fund’s portfolio companies are anticipated to grow regionally and contribute to strengthening trade between northern and sub-Saharan African countries, while creating over 1,000 direct new jobs.

The EIB commitment was signed under the Southern Neighbourhood Private Equity Risk Capital Facility, a EUR 71.3 million facility which aims to support private equity fund investments in the Southern Neighbourhood countries.

The facility blends the EIB’s own resources with European Commission resources under the Neighbourhood Investment Facility.