Tailor-made debt

BluePeak plans African debt investments in pharmaceuticals, telecoms

By David Whitehouse

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Posted on January 28, 2022 13:34

IMG_2327 © Blue Peak Private Capital founder and managing director Walid Cherif. Photo supplied.
Blue Peak Private Capital founder and managing director Walid Cherif. Photo supplied.

BluePeak Private Capital is planning debt investments in unnamed pharmaceutical and telecoms companies in sub-Saharan Africa, Walid Cherif, founder and managing director, tells The Africa Report.

The firm is planning to invest in a pharmaceutical manufacturer that operates in seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa and supplies 20 countries on the continent, Cherif says from Tunis. The investment will be used to help build a manufacturing plant in East Africa, he says. BluePeak is also carrying out due diligence for an investment in a sub-Saharan African telecoms services company, Cherif adds.

The fund, set up in 2019, sees potential in private debt as a way to finance small, family-owned African businesses reluctant to give up control by selling equity. The fund reached a first close at $116m in September. Cherif hopes the fund will soon hit the $150m mark with money from two new investors and is targeting a final close of $200m in 2022.

The fund’s largest office is in Tunis, and it also has offices in Nairobi and Lagos. Cherif says the fund is “sector agnostic,” though

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