Private equity and African funds

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African private equity, long a marginal activity, has become organised since the 2010s with pan-African and regional managers, funds specialising by sector, energy, agriculture, health, technology, and institutional investors, development funds, African pension funds, family offices and foundations, several of which are based in Geneva.¹ Geneva is home to African fund managers and to advisers who structure these vehicles, often domiciled in Mauritius or Luxembourg, and to family offices that invest part of their emerging-market allocations in them. Returns have been uneven, affected by devaluations, illiquidity and the difficulty of exits, but the segment is growing.

This asset class links Geneva’s wealth management to the real African economy more directly than commodity trading does: a fund that finances clinics in Kenya, cold-storage warehouses in Senegal or a payments company in Nigeria creates jobs and income on the ground. It also gives the Geneva investor an exposure to African growth that commodities do not provide. This chapter has noted the weakness of Swiss productive investment in Africa. Private equity is one of the instruments that could correct it, provided that Geneva’s managers accept the long horizons and the operational risks that this market imposes.

Notes

AVCA, 2024 African Private Capital Activity Report, press release of 17 April 2025: “African private capital fundraising more than doubled to US$4.0 billion” in 2024, the third-highest figure of the decade; 485 deals worth USD 5.5 billion (-7%); 63 exits (+47%); financial sector in the lead (23% of volumes, 33% of values); Southern Africa 129 deals, West Africa 105, East Africa 99, North Africa 77; commitments by African domestic investors up from USD 171 million in 2022 to USD 639 million in 2024; USD 10.3 billion of undeployed capital at the end of 2024. ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of September 2025.

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Dr Alexander Ressos, TEP

Rechtsanwalt/Attorney-at-Law

I am a Swiss attorney-at-law and also admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong and in England & Wales, with almost 25 years of experience.

Together with my multilingual team, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Ukrainian and French native speakers, I advise companies and their owners from around the world on the full range of banking, corporate, commercial and tax law matters in Switzerland, including international tax planning, fiduciary services, and legal family office services including immigration & relocation or real estate investments. My practice has a particular focus on clients from growth and frontier markets in Greater China, Central Asia and the Caucasus, the rest of Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, and I equally advise clients from Europe and North America. Through an affiliated Swiss trust company, we also take care of the incorporation and ongoing administration of their companies and other structures, including accounting, tax returns and corporate secretarial services, and I serve as a professional director where required. With the support of a network of first-class cooperation partners, I also implement solutions worldwide.

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Private equity and African funds

Notes

Setting up or expanding in Switzerland?