Finance

Helios Investment Partners eyes South Africa

Helios Investment Partners eyes South Africa
Tuesday, 15 September 2020 18:46

Helios Investment Partners says it is eying South Africa for opportunities, claiming the current pessimism is “overdone.”

“South Africa, notwithstanding the challenges that it is having - both from the human toll of Covid-19 and the economic challenges- paradoxically is becoming more interesting for us,” Tope Lawani (pictured), co-founder and managing partner at Helios, said in an interview with Bloomberg.

No detail was provided on the companies Helios is targeting but the firm says it plans investments in fintech, insurance, and the energy sector. According to Tope Lawani, Helios is also considering the possibility of imitating a Ghanaian liquefied natural gas project in South Africa to help close the energy gap.

South Africa is going through difficult times with GDP slumping by 51% in Q2 2020. The fourth consecutive quarterly decline and the lowest quarterly decline since 1992.

Moreover, the investment community is now afraid that a long debt crisis could occur in South Africa. “South Africa is a place that has a lot of excellent companies, a lot of excellent entrepreneurs and we are now seeing for the first time, that in rand terms, assets are starting to get fairly valued and may be inexpensive," said Tope Lawani, adding that the current weakness of the South African currency is an asset.

The firm continued to receive investor support for its fourth investment fund for Africa. The latest contribution of $100 million was announced on July 7 by the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC), the U.K's private sector financing institution for developing countries. Also this year, Helios and Canada's Fairfax Africa announced plans to merge to strengthen their activities in Africa.

Idriss Linge

On the same topic
• IMF extends Niger’s Extended Credit Facility (ECF) program by one year through December 2026.• IMF approves a $41 million disbursement tied to...
EBRD grants $100 million loan to Banque Misr to expand credit access for SMEs and women-led businesses. Loan supports Egypt’s green finance...
UTB’s restructuring delayed to end-2026 due to incomplete audits; reorganization plan expected by March. Despite a CFA 15.2B injection, the bank...
DRC launches campaign to diversify investors in government securities 98% of bonds now held by banks; aim is to reduce risk and broaden...
Most Read
01

• Inflation within the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) fell to a two-year low of 0....

UEMOA: Inflation Drops to 0.6% in May, Driven by Lower Food Prices
02

• Interbank volumes rose 18.7% in May, while rates declined across the market• The BCEAO cut its mai...

WAEMU Sees Easing Conditions on Regional Interbank Market
03

• The U.S. imposed a 20% tariff on cashew exports from Vietnam and a 40% tax on suspected transshipm...

U.S. Tariffs on Vietnam Cashews May Disrupt Trade, Hit African Growers (Interview)
04

Cauri Money launches Gajo Money, an e-wallet for the Cameroonian diaspora, targeting €120 mil...

Cauri Money Targets Cameroonian Diaspora with Digital Wallet Launch
05

• Qatar Airways and Kenya Airways establish strategic agreement, introducing a third daily flight be...

Qatar Airways Expands its Network in Africa, Building Presence in Kigali, Johannesburg, and Nairobi
Enter your email to receive our newsletter

Ecofin Agency provides daily coverage of nine key African economic sectors: public management, finance, telecoms, agribusiness, mining, energy, transport, communication, and education.
It also designs and manages specialized media, both online and print, for African institutions and publishers.

SALES & ADVERTISING

regie@agenceecofin.com 
Tél: +41 22 301 96 11 
Mob: +41 78 699 13 72
Média kit : Download

EDITORIAL
redaction@agenceecofin.com

More information
Team
Publisher

ECOFIN AGENCY

Mediamania Sarl
Rue du Léman, 6
1201 Geneva
Switzerland

 

Ecofin Agency is a sector-focused economic news agency, founded in December 2010. Its web platform was launched in June 2011. ©Mediamania.

 
 

Please publish modules in offcanvas position.