China’s recent US$ 3 billion injection into the U.S. private equity firm Blackstone Group may have attracted more media attention, but the Beijing government also turned heads by creating a huge, PE hybrid designed to accelerate development in Africa.
The China-Africa Development Fund was launched in June with an initial US$ 1 billion and a goal of expanding the pool to US$ 5 billion. Sponsored by the state but targeting private enterprise, the fund was formed with a unique structure that blends the practices of global PE firms and China’s industrial development funds. At the helm is Beijing’s policymaking China Development Bank (CDB) , which forecasts a 50-year lifespan for what’s being called the world’s largest, single fund aimed at African development. [Full Text]
[Image: China Development Bank, from Caijing.com.cn]