Emerging Capital Partners

Emerging Capital Partners (ECP) is an international private equity firm focused on investing across the African continent including Francophone Africa. The firm is the first private equity group to raise over US$1.8 billion, invested exclusively in African companies. The firm's investors are uncorrelated to the U.S. and other global economies. By the third quarter of 2008, the firm had invested in approximately 50 companies, exited from about 20, and achieved an average return of three times its initial investments. In June 2010 it closed ECP Africa Fund III with total commitments of US$613 million, the largest raised fund for growth equity investing across the continent.

While the African continent is generally overlooked in terms of investment opportunities, ECP has seen a high demand for capital in African markets, where the demand for investment far outweighs the supply. In addition, the past several years have seen positive shifts, such as government movement to open-market philosophies and improved macro-economic fundamentals. ECP has found that these factors are enabling Africa to become a vibrant marketplace with a defined opportunity set for private equity investment. Speaking to Reuters newswire, Co-CEO Hurley Doddy predicted at least another decade of strong growth from consumer goods, broadband internet and financial services in 2011.