(Ecofin Agency) - A new investment fund backed by Carlyle and Aliko Dangote plans to invest $500 million in Africa. The investment vehicle, which has already raised $140 million, targets various sectors, including telecommunications, technology, logistics, and retail.

Private equity firm Alterra Capital Partners has launched a new investment fund for Africa, targeting a final size of $500 million. According to information reported by Bloomberg, the fund is backed by American private equity giant Carlyle Group and Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote.

“Carlyle co-founders David Rubenstein and Bill Conway are among investors in the Alterra Capital Partners fund, which plans to raise up to $500 million in the coming months," said Genevieve Sangudi, a partner at Alterra Capital Partners. "Alterra plans to invest in the telecommunications, technology, logistics, healthcare, consumer and retail sectors," she added, revealing that $140 million has already been mobilized during the first closing.

Sangudi also mentioned that Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote, is an investor in the new fund, alongside Standard Bank Group (South Africa), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Norfund AS (Norway), Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft GmbH (DEG/Germany), and Allianz's AfricaGrow fund.

"It's a great time to invest in Africa because many current macroeconomic parameters offer potentially interesting investment opportunities. For example, the power challenges across Africa provide opportunities to invest in private distributed power solutions, while technology continues to drive Africa's digital transformation at a rapid pace," she explained.

Alterra Capital Partners was founded in 2020 by former members of the Carlyle Group's African team. In mid-2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was hitting hard, this new company took over the management of assets from the American private equity giant in Africa. Since then, Alterra Capital Partners has exited the investment rounds of six companies in its portfolio and has successfully returned about $600 million to investors.