PIC to invest $250m in Ecobank
The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) has announced that it will invest $250 million (R1.7 billion) in Ecobank Transnational Inc, a press release from the bank has said.
According to the statement, the PIC will do the investment on behalf of Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) of South Africa.
“This investment will represent the PIC’s first major direct investment outside of South Africa and is in line with GEPF’s investment strategy that has identified Africa (excluding South Africa) as the next frontier for investment growth,” it says.
And GEPF has already allocated 5% of it’s nearly R1 trillion of assets under management to be invested in the rest of the continent.
“Our continent is ripe for investment”, John Oliphant, GEPF’s head of investments and actuarial was quoted as saying in the statement.
“With over one billion people and a rapidly growing middle class, Africa, in tandem with the rest of the developing world, presents exciting investment opportunities for investors looking for good returns. With an almost stagnant growth recorded in developed economies, Africa has strongly emerged as the next frontier for investment growth,” he adds.
According to Ecobank the transaction will bolster its tier one capital and further enhance its ability to grow its business across the African continent.
The $250 million share purchase, it says, will be affected by the issuance of 3,125,000,000 shares in Ecobank representing 19.58% of the total outstanding number of shares. Following this investment, the PIC is expected to take a seat on the board of Ecobank.
Mr. Arnold Ekpe, Group Chief Executive Officer of the Ecobank Group, was cited as saying, “we look forward to welcoming the GEPF as a shareholder. Along with our existing shareholders, we will now have a slate of highly reputable local, regional and international shareholders and our equity capital raising programme is coming to an end. Our unparalleled presence across sub-Saharan Africa and our knowledge of local markets will also facilitate the GEPF’s investment plans for Africa.”
“We are excited about the proposed investment we will make in Ecobank. We strongly believe that this is a significant step that will complement the Africa strategy of our major client, GEPF, which seeks to take advantage of private equity opportunities on the continent. With this one investment we will be immediately optimising our footprint on the rest of the continent, an action that would otherwise require multiple investments and huge effort as well as resource allocation,” Chief Executive Officer of PIC, Elias Masilela was quoted as saying.
Ecobank has operations in 32 countries in Africa.
By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi