Our investment
In 2015, CDC committed $65m to ARE3, alongside the IFC and endowments from Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. The fund has a total size of $506 million. Our investment will support residential, retail, office and industrial developments in the capitals of several sub-Saharan African markets.
Expected impact
Rapid urbanisation and population growth are boosting the number of people in Africa's cities and driving the demand for real estate, both business and residential. Mixed-use developments have been able to help meet this demand. Our investment will enable the fund manager to support the development of real estate in Kenya, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Mozambique, Zambia and Ghana. Actis has also created Garden City, a mixed-use urban development in the eastern suburbs of Nairobi, that incorporates office, residential and retail space. It has received LEED building certification for the retail and Green Star rating for the residential portion of the project. Actis also set up a vocational project, to train 120 unskilled workers from IFC of the World Bank Group.
Environmental and social aspects
The fund manager has a well-established approach to environmental and social (E&S) management and we will continue to support and monitor its approach as the portfolio grows.
Key facts
- Status:
- Active
- Region
:
Since 2012, we’ve only invested in Africa and South Asia. Investments outside these regions are from our pre-2012 portfolio.
- Africa
- Sector
:
We have seven priority sectors. However, we continue to invest outside these sectors, largely in the most challenging regions, as new investment supporting any sector helps to underpin the private sector, and create jobs and livelihoods for people. For funds, the sectors listed here are those the fund has invested in so far.
- Construction and real estate
- Website:
- https://www.act.is/
- Investment type
:
We provide capital in three broad ways: direct equity, debt, and intermediated equity (principally through investment funds).
- Intermediated investment
- Fund manager:
- Actis LLP
- Start date
:
For direct investments, this is the date CDC committed capital to the business or project.
For funds, this is the date that CDC committed capital to the fund.
For underlying fund investments, this is the date that the fund invested capital into the business.e
- August 2015
- Amount
:
For direct investments, this is the total amount that CDC has committed to the business or project (it may be a combination of equity and debt).
For funds, this is the total amount that CDC has committed to the fund.
- $50m
- Domicile
:
This is the investee company’s place of incorporation; or a fund’s jurisdiction.
- England
Investments made by this fund
- Active
- Exited
| Investment name | Country | Region | Sector | Start date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Twin Lakes Mall
Twin Lakes Mall is a greenfield development of a regional shopping mall along the Lekki-Epe Expressway in Eastern Lagos. The area is considered to be one of the fastest growing residential/commercial areas in Lagos and benefits from recently improved road infrastructure. |
Nigeria | Africa, West Africa | Construction and real estate | July 2015 | Active |
|
Garden City Business Park
Garden City Business Park's planned development for the 15 acre site includes office space, a hotel and a hospital. The Business Park is situated on the Thika Superhighway in Nairobi. |
Kenya | Africa, East Africa | Construction and real estate | July 2015 | Active |
|
Douala Retail
Douala Retail will be a retail led, mixed-use development in the airport area of Douala. |
Cameroon | Africa, Central Africa | Construction and real estate | December 2015 | Active |
|
Project Arrow
This is a proposed land development in Nigeria. |
Nigeria | Africa, West Africa | Construction and real estate | February 2017 | Active |
| ImpAct | Africa | Construction and real estate | September 2017 | Active | |
| Itura | Nigeria | Africa, West Africa | Construction and real estate | August 2018 | Active |
| Renaissance Plaza | Cote d'Ivoire | Africa, West Africa | Construction and real estate | December 2018 | Active |
|
Prism
The Prism joint venture is a residential/workforce housing development platform with Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate (“Shapoorji”), one of India’s largest residential developers. The business is targeting the gateway cities of East Africa, starting with Nairobi. The Prism programme will target the development of at least 1,000 units diversified across multiple sites in different nodes of Nairobi. |
Kenya | Africa, East Africa | Construction and real estate | March 2019 | Active |
|
Itura SC Morocco
Itura is a $125 million partnership with experienced hotel owner and operator, Westmont Hospitality Group. Westmont has a 30- year track record owning and operating over 1,100 hotels. Westmont will leverage its resources and expertise to lead the management and operational improvement of each of the assets, with investment insight and local input from Actis. |
Morocco | Africa, North Africa | Construction and real estate | December 2019 | Active |
|
Washington
Washington is a data centre platform seeking to create a portfolio of carrier-neutral co-location data centres across Africa’s key markets. Its first acquisition was a majority stake in Rack Centre, Nigeria, the leading carrier-neutral facility in Lagos. Beyond Nigeria, the platform is focusing on markets where it can scale within a reasonable time frame. |
Africa | Construction and real estate | February 2020 | Active |
