Convergence Partners, a private equity investor located in Johannesburg that focuses on the technology sector in Sub-Saharan Africa, has announced the first closing of its third fund, the Convergence Partners Digital Infrastructure Fund (CPDIF), which raised US$120 million.
Convergence Partners, founded in 2006, engages in private equity and infrastructure opportunities in the technology and digital sectors across Sub-Saharan Africa as value-adding partners. It has a $400 million asset base that it invests in three funds across Southern, East, and West Africa, including the recently launched Convergence Partners Digital Infrastructure Fund.
The fund has announced a first close of US$120 million, and is targeting a final size of US$250 million. Investors are leading institutions that continue to support African growth such as the UK’s CDC Group, the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Proparco, the private sector arm of the Agence Française de Développement – AFD Group.
The infrastructure needs of emerging growth themes in the digital infrastructure ecosystem, such as fiber, wireless, data centers, and towers, as well as 5G, cloud, Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), fintech, and network virtualisation, will drive investments by the new fund. Ctrack, a data analytics business that serves the fleet management and insurance industries, was the company’s first investment, which was announced earlier this year.
“We are delighted to have achieved this milestone particularly given the headwinds in African PE fundraising generally, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on business activity, over the past 12 months. We are very pleased with the level of support from both repeat and new investors and believe this reflects our solid track record and the opportunity CPDIF presents at this crucial time in both a tech and African context,” said Brandon Doyle chief executive officer (CEO) of Convergence Partners.