Our Insights

we track a number of mutually reinforcing trends

We have been investing in the future of North Africa for over a decade. Our investment focus is firmly rooted in the promising consumer dynamics of North Africa, characterized by a young, rapidly growing population, swift urbanization, rising income levels, and widespread digitalization. These factors provide a fertile landscape for growth capital investment. This youthful, burgeoning population presents an expansive consumer base, creating diverse market opportunities. Urban growth brings about new consumer demands, catalyzing business growth, and fostering a hub for talent and innovation, thereby enhancing the region's appeal to private equity investors. Rising incomes contribute to the growth of the middle class, driving demand across various sectors and making the region attractive for investment. Increased digitalization and improving digital infrastructure open up new markets such as e-commerce and fintech, offering vast untapped potential for investment. We invest in Sub-Saharan Africa through our portfolio companies in North Africa, initially gaining market access through distribution agreements and later establishing operations and manufacturing facilities, fully leveraging the local resources and market opportunities.

Within this dynamic and evolving growth context, we actively track a host of interconnected trends that help us identify and define our target investment sectors. These trends span across various industries, including but not limited to, consumer goods, healthcare, education, and financial services. By leveraging our deep understanding of these trends and our operational expertise, we are well-positioned to create significant value in our investments, ultimately delivering strong returns to our investors. READ MORE

►  Growing consumption and shifting spending patterns: Young, urbanizing consumers and improving economic fundamentals are providing fertile ground for growth.  We believe rising wage growth, a large concentration of the millennial population, access to higher-quality education and the proliferation of and access to technology are creating a new consumer market driven by mobility and connectivity supported by a growing middle class.  This is further driven by the rapid urbanization the region is witnessing, all of which will lead to increasing demand for consumer products and services. As the middle class expands, companies will likely benefit from growing consumer purchasing power and shifts in spending patterns. Historically, a growing middle class has been a strong indicator of a country’s future economic growth. 

Rising education standards and improving access to affordable quality education: As education standards across North African countries rise and access to education and training improves, productivity, employment and efficiency will likely also increase. This will likely further drive income and economic growth, consumption and expansion of the middle class, which will drive demand for products and services.  We also believe with improving education and training, the region will witness improving innovation which in turn will become dominant force that will transform many industries in North Africa as the availability of quality human capital continues to improve.

Increasing demand for quality healthcare and wellness: The improving consumer living standards have led to dietary patterns associated with increased risk of several chronic diseases such as coronary heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and osteoporosis. This has amplified the weakness in public sector healthcare services, the dearth of health insurance and the shortage in quality affordable healthcare providers and payors in North Africa. Furthermore we are at the early stages of a demand shift in product segments as health and wellness become core differentiators in choice as healthcare focus shifts from treatment to prevention.

Advances in and the availability of new technologies and increasing role of data: We believe the advances in and the availability of new technologies are transforming the business models of companies across North Africa and creating new digitalization opportunities for investors.  Innovations in machine learning and artificial intelligence already are opening countless new opportunities in the consumer space. They are reshaping how consumers learn, research, and shop and how companies reach consumers. Whether through search algorithms, AI-assistant driven commerce, programmatic advertising, pricing algorithms, or geolocation, these advances are already transforming the consumer economy. These changes are fundamentally changing the relationship between products and consumers, creating value shifts from producers to consumers and vice versa. While North African consumers are smarter today with more choices, they are also more engaged. Seizing this engagement is the big opportunity for growth in a networked world.

Transformation to digital payments and access to financial services: North African consumers and businesses are at the early stages of benefitting from disruptive ideas and solutions provided by fintech companies. Innovations, entrepreneurs, and capital are reshaping North Africa’s fast-growing electronic-payments landscape with solutions for consumers and businesses alike. For example, payments providers such as our partner company MaxAB offer point-of-sale terminals to small merchants, all of whom were previously unable to accept electronic payments and did not have access to financial products. Consumers, on the other hand, are likely to benefit from digital banking services which can be accessed conveniently on their mobile phones, as countries start rolling out accommodative regulations. Electronic payments are also likely to benefit from fundamental economic growth factors and falling data costs.