Private Equity Professionals

Kingdom Zephyr plants flag in Lagos

The pan-African private equity firm plans to capitalise on expectations that Nigeria will be among the world's 10 fastest growing economies between 2011 and 2015.

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Kingdom Zephyr partner Seyi Owodunni will move from Ghana to head the firm’s newest office in Lagos, Nigeria. It marks the firm’s third office in Africa, having previously opened in Johannesburg and Accra.

The pan-African firm said it was expanding into Africa’s second largest economy, and Sub-Saharan Africa’s most populous country, in anticipation of opportunities in sectors undergoing “transformation” including banking and financial services, oil and gas and power. 

Growth will be further aided by key demographic trends such as an expanding workforce, increasing urbanisation and the rapid growth of Nigeria’s middle class.

Seyi Owodunni

“Nigeria’s economic growth has recovered from the temporary dip in 2009 on the back of higher oil prices as well as industry and government reforms, creating significant investment opportunities in companies positioned to benefit from these transformations,” Owodunni said in a statement. “Growth will be further aided by key demographic trends such as an expanding workforce, increasing urbanisation and the rapid growth of Nigeria’s middle class; all developments that are consistent with our middle class consumer-focused investment strategy.”

The firm also noted that the IMF anticipated Nigeria’s compound growth rate to be around 7 percent between 2011 and 2015, making it one of the top 10 fastest growing economies globally.

Africa’s increasingly attractive prospects will be the subject of Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein’s keynote address at PEI’s upcoming Africa Forum.