In To Africa

Private equity funds in Africa are also soaring, says the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

As part of its 2008 African Economic Outlook, the OECD said funds raised for private equity in sub-Saharan Africa almost trebled in 2006 to $2.3 billion. That even outstripped growth in funds focusing on North Africa and the Middle East, which grew 50% over the same period.

"Improvements in the African investment environment and a series of spectacular African business successes...have fuelled an unprecedented boom in the size and breadth of African private equity funds," the OECD added, singling out the $2.4 billion buyout of Africa's third-largest mobile operator Celtel as an example of private equity success.

The OECD put sub-Saharan Africa's share of emerging private equity funds at 7% , well behind Asia's 58% but comparable to Latin America at 8%, the Middle East and North Africa at the same amount and Russia at 10%. South African managed funds totalled some 80% of sub-Saharan private equity capital followed by Nigeria on 10%.

While foreign investment has poured into Africa's commodities sector to benefit from a global price boom, the OECD said private equity has tended to back the trend, focusing on consumer-related and communications sectors.