SME
 
 
Kantara Investments
 
The countries of North Africa are going through a period of transformation, politically, economically and socially. While sharing these broad characteristics, each country has its own set of domestic socio-economic features and priorities, which translate into different levels of economic development, growth rates and accessibility. However, each country has demonstrated a determination to develop and a willingness to open its economy to international trade and investment, and Abraaj believes that this is an irreversible trend.

We believe the opportunity for private equity investment in North Africa is at a historical inflexion point shaped in particular by the following themes:
 
  •  the continuing improvement in the economic, legal, fiscal and monetary environment;
  •  the increased pressure on local companies to focus on their core businesses in order to be able to expand and compete in a more open economy; and
  •  the low level of private equity flows compared to other markets, both developed and emerging.

With this backdrop, Abraaj saw the addition of the Kantara fund to its investment platform in August 2011 as a compelling opportunity to increase its focus on North Africa. The core mandate of the Kantara fund is to invest growth capital into small and mid-cap companies in North Africa, a strategy that is highly complementary to and synergistic with Abraaj’s existing SME investment strategy through its Riyada Enterprise Development (RED) platform. RED has offices and teams on the ground across MENA but was not present in the Maghreb. By adding the Kantara fund and its team to the platform, Abraaj’s geographical footprint in MENA is completed, with new offices in Tunisia and Morocco and an office in Algeria under formation.


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