AVCA Appoints new Board Members and launches Advisory Council to propel African PE industry to new heights

Accra, Ghana - The African Venture Capital Association (AVCA) today announced the appointment of eight new members to the Board during the 9th AVCA annual conference in Accra, Ghana held from 22 - 24 April 2012.

The Accra event titled ‘Africa, the Rising Giant’ convened the most senior gathering of LPs, GPs, and institutional investors, spanning different investment strategies across global, pan-African and regional markets.

The new appointees to the Board are:

- Marlon Chigwende, Managing Director & Co-Head, Carlyle Sub-Saharan Africa
- Thierry Dalais, Founder and Executive Chairman, Metier
- Hurley Doddy, Managing Director, Founding Partner and Co-CEO, Emerging Capital Partners
- Paul Kavuma, Chief Executive Officer, Catalyst Principal Partners
- Jacob Kholi, Managing Partner, Aureos Capital
- Papa Madiaw Ndiaye, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Advanced Finance & Investment Group
- Henry Obi, Chief Operating Officer, Helios Investment Partners
- Karim Sadek, Managing Director, Citadel Capital

The newly appointed board selected by nomination is representative of the entire African private equity community – both large and small GPs, is geographically balanced and includes all investment styles.

Acknowledging the appointment, Chigwende said that by joining the board, Carlyle Group - which is one of the world’s largest private equity firms with $147 billion assets under management and a substantial global investment portfolio - would help to raise awareness of private equity in Africa.

“It’s a very exciting time of change and opportunity for private equity in Africa. In joining AVCA's Board, Carlyle hopes to contribute to the industry's efforts to promote increased understanding across Africa of how private equity can effectively contribute to economic growth and sustainable development,” Chigwende noted.

The new directors will join four current Board members including Runa Alam, the Chair, co-Founder and CEO of Development Partners International, a leading pan-African private equity fund.

Alam said that this year’s AVCA conference welcomed over 350 investors, a third of which are institutional investors from around the world who collectively manage over $280 billion in assets, demonstrating Africa’s increasing importance as part of emerging markets allocations. “This gathering shows that the African private equity industry is growing and maturing, and I expect that this will add to the growth and development story of Africa,” she pointed out.

While emphasising the transformational role that private equity is playing in catalysing growth opportunities across the continent, Michelle Kathryn Essomé, the CEO of AVCA, added that the Board would assist the organisation to play a leading role in championing the interests of the industry.

“For us to successfully promote and protect the long-term interests of the industry, it is vital that our advisors are comprised of successful African investors. The calibre of the Board is exceptional and we look forward to a step change in the value AVCA can deliver for LPs (Limited Partnerships), GPs (General Partnerships) and institutional investors seeking to capitalize on African opportunities.” Essomé noted.

Since her appointment as CEO in September 2011, Essomé has re-invigorated the organisational strategy, launched a major recapitalisation initiative and put in place key governance mechanisms and best practices as AVCA seeks to play a more relevant, active and visible role in championing and advocating for the PE industry in Africa.

“Ultimately, a more confident voice for the PE sector in Africa should facilitate a deeper understanding of the African opportunity and increase the ability of Africa GPs to raise capital, a critical driver for their sustained success,” the CEO observed.

Commenting on his appointment to the Board, Karim Sadek, Managing Director at Citadel Capital, expressed his firm’s appreciation of the opportunity to play a hands-on role in supporting the re-launch of AVCA and concluded:

"Africa is long on opportunity, but short on capital and management expertise — two things that private equity is uniquely positioned to bring to the table. As the largest PE firm in Africa, we see it as our responsibility to take an active role in helping shape the development of our industry across the continent. Private equity has a vital role to play not just in creating opportunities that generate outstanding long-term returns, but that meet the aspirations of more than 1 billion Africans working for a better tomorrow."

The Board announcement was followed by the announcement of the creation of an Advisory Council to provide leadership and oversight to AVCA and to support the achievement of its ambitious goals in 2012 and beyond. In addition, AVCA will launch a comprehensive governance structure made up of 11 committees.

* * * * *

Notes to Editors

Full list of Advisory Council Members

Lindel Eakman, Managing Director, Private Markets Investments, University of Texas Investment Management Company (UTIMCO)
Vincent LeGuennou, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Emerging Capital Partners (ECP)
Mara Topping, Partner, DC Office, White & Case (W&C)
Nabil Triki, Managing Director & Head of Private Equity, Swicorp
Solomon Wifa, Partner & Head of London Office, O’Melveny & Myers (OMM)
Ben Zwinkels, Senior Investment Officer of the Equity Department, FMO

About AVCA
AVCA is a not-for-profit association, founded to promote, develop and stimulate private equity and venture capital in Africa. Through programs, which include research, advocacy, training, networking, and the dissemination of industry best practices, the organization’s role is to strengthen and develop the venture capital and private equity industry across Africa.

Runa Alam
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Development Partners International (DPI)

Runa is co-founding Partner and CEO of Development Partners International LLP. DPI is a private equity fund advisory business who are the investment adviser to African Development Partners I, LLC and ADP I LP (together, ADP I), a PE fund which invests throughout Africa. She holds a BA in International and Developmental Economics from the Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton University, an MBA from the Harvard Business School and was also a Harry S. Truman Congressional Scholar.

Michelle Kathryn Essomé

Chief Executive Officer, African Venture Capital Association (AVCA)

Michelle Kathryn Essomé brings nearly 20 years of investment banking experience covering marketing and origination roles in equities, fixed income and investment management with Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Lehman Brothers and Nomura, including two years marketing private equity funds to UK LPs. Michelle has an MBA in Finance from Columbia Business School, where she was a Robert F. Toigo fellow, and a BBA in Finance from Howard University. She has worked in the US, UK and France, and is fluent in French.

# # #