Report: Private-equity investment in West Africa still growing steadily

The African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association released a report recently that documents the improving private equity (PE) market in West Africa.

The report said the number of private equity exists jumped from 29 between 2007 and 2010 to 46 between 2011 and 2015, demonstrating a growing level of satisfaction among investors.

“Our Spotlight on West Africa provides further evidence of the important role PE plays in the region’s development by investing in companies that expand the population’s access to a variety of goods and services, including financial products, upgraded telecommunications technology and improved infrastructure," Dorothy Kelso, director and head of research and strategy at the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, said.

Kelso said she expects the West African private equity market to continue growing and is also looking toward an increases in transactions in West Africa as more investment infrastructure is established.

The level of infrastructure development was listed as one of the ongoing challenges to private-equity investment in West Africa, along with an unreliable energy supply and a hazy legal framework for private equity, which is generally a new type of investment for the region that many West African nations are not yet fully prepared to embrace.

The overall optimistic outlook depends on the region's young workforce, rising middle class, urbanization, moderating political climate and developing regulatory infrastructure -- the drivers of continued private-equity investment.