Private equity firm Carlyle Group is set to sign investment deals in Africa to tap the increasing customer spending in the continent.
Carlyle, the world's second largest private equity firm, is planning to invest $500 million in "anything that touches the consumer, fast-moving consumer goods, agriculture, mobile telephony, financial services," according to Marlon Chigwende, Carlyle's managing director and co-head for sub-Saharan Africa.
Prior private equity investments in Africa, which holds some of the world's largest reserves of minerals, were mostly on natural resources and telecommunications. Two-thirds of recent growth in Africa; however, has been consumer related, the Carlyle Group said.
The private equity firm first came to the region two years ago and opened offices in Johannesburg and Nigeria.
According to the International Monetary Fund, global buyout companies are starting diversify away from western economies to earn higher returns. Sub-Saharan Africa's economy, which grew by 4.7 percent in 2012, is projected to grow 5.5 percent this year, the IMF said.
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