Ninety One closes $404m Africa credit fund

Alternative Credit Investor reports that Ninety One announced the final close of its Africa Credit Opportunities Fund 3 on August 18, with commitments of $404 million. Development finance institutions, pension funds and family offices across Africa, Europe, the UK, the US and Canada supplied the capital.

The vehicle is the third vintage in Ninety One's emerging market senior credit series. It invests mainly in senior secured private credit with what the firm calls 'conservative levels' of financial leverage and 'good structural protections,' and it writes flexible financing to businesses and critical infrastructure projects in Africa and other emerging markets. Managing directors Steven Loubser and Kobina Sam lead the fund from the firm's emerging market alternative credit team.

The fund already holds a portfolio of more than 30 investments across Africa, Latin America, Asia and Central and Eastern Europe, with exposure to communications, consumer, financials, healthcare, industrials and materials. A proprietary sustainability framework sits on top, aimed at what the firm calls positive outcomes for people, the environment and economic productivity. Alternative Credit Investor's report does not say how much of the $404 million has been drawn down.

Nathaniel Micklem, co-head of emerging market alternative credit, tied the close to investor confidence in the region. 'We continue to see a significant financing gap for high-quality businesses and infrastructure projects across Africa and other emerging markets,' he told Alternative Credit Investor, crediting Ninety One's long-standing presence, local expertise and partnerships for resilient deal flow.

The strategy's record, according to the same report, gives the new fund context. Since inception, the series has raised $815 million across three funds and deployed more than $1.4 billion across more than 100 counterparties in more than 30 countries. The source does not explain how deployment exceeds commitments; leverage, recycling or co-investment likely accounts for the difference.

Earlier this year, Ninety One positioned emerging market private debt as an alternative to US private credit. The final close puts a number behind that argument. The LP mix is worth pausing on: development finance institutions and family offices sit alongside pension funds from five regions. Their presence suggests investors see the emerging-market financing gap as a distinct source of private credit returns.

For a family office or RIA weighing private credit, the useful figure is the $1.4 billion already deployed across more than 100 counterparties. The new fund adds another $404 million of committed capital to that effort, with more than 30 investments already in the portfolio. Whether the structural protections hold through a downturn is the test; the close is a sign that allocators want that test.