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CDC Group Invests $100m in Helios Investors IV Fund

Private Equity	835 VIEWS
Private Equity
835 VIEWS

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Monday, July 13, 2020 / 08:47 AM / By Helios / Header Image Credit: CDC/Helios/Ecographics

The CDC Group (formerly the Commonwealth Development Corporation, and previous to that, the Colonial Development Corporation) is UK's development finance institution has provided USD 100million to a fund run by private equity firm Helios.

United Kingdom development finance institution (DFI) CDC Group has furthered its partnership with Africa-focused private equity investor Helios, committing USD 100 million to its latest fund.

Helios Investors IV is the fourth such fund run by Helios and it is the first time CDC has invested in one of its funds since 2009, which the DFI said was a vote of confidence in the firm's work.

Managing director and head of Africa funds, and funds and capital partnerships at CDC, Clarisa De Franco, said in a statement: "Our investment will allow growing African companies to access much-needed finance to support their development and expansion at a particularly challenging time in the markets."

CDC said its investment in the fund would go towards job creation, sustainable employment and Covid-19 recovery. It praised Helios' good practice on environmental, social and governance management in a statement.

De Franco added that CDC hoped to contribute to the recovery of African trade and investment after Covid-19, saying: "I'm confident our investment in Helios will help catalyse additional commitments from institutional investors, thereby allow the firm to invest in promising companies, create lasting jobs, and accelerate progress towards the SDGs [sustainable development goals] across the region."

CDC's portfolio value is now worth GBP5.8 billion. Established in 2004, Helios has operations in Lagos and Nairobi and investments active in 30 African countries.

It comes shortly after CDC formed with Societe General and Finland's DFI, having invested in Ghanaian medical supply company mPharma. CDC committed to GBP 2billion of new African investments over the next two years .