Published: May 6, 2010
Private equity firm says demography is continent’s “engine of growth”.
Citadel Capital, a private equity firm focused on the Middle East and Africa, says Africa’s growth potential makes it one of the most intriguing investment destinations today.
Speaking at the 20th World Economic Forum on Africa held in Tanzania this week, Citadel Capital managing director Karim Sadek said that the continent’s growing population is at the heart of its investment potential.
“Africa’s population has reached one billion and is set to grow faster than in any other part of the world in the coming decades,” he said. “While some may view this as a challenge, we believe that demography is a strong component of the case supporting private investment in Africa. The African consumer and worker, who is too often overlooked, is the continent’s unknown engine of growth.”
Sadek added that better infrastructure will help to connect local producers to national markets, national markets to regional hubs, and regional hubs to global export markets.
“Infrastructure development is critical to turning Africa’s rapidly growing population into a robust domestic market,” he said. “This is particularly critical for a continent on which there are more than 20 countries with populations of less than 5 million, more than 20 countries with economies smaller than US$5bn annually, and 15 landlocked nations. The result, of course, is that most infrastructure tends to be national or regional.”
Citadel Capital has nine platform companies with exposure to non-Egyptian Africa in industries including mining, oil and gas, electricity generation, cement, banking, agriculture, agrifoods, transportation and logistics.