Momentum close Africa Real Estate Fund for second time

Momentum Global Investment Management, working with Eris Property Group, has completed the second close of its Africa Real Estate Fund, raising $103 million, bringing the total raised to $150 million.

The fund focused on developing retail, commercial and light industrial real estate in sub-Saharan Africa outside South Africa and aims to attract long-term institutional investors. Its final phase of fundraising in scheduled for 2016. Momentum GIM head of Africa real estate, David Lashbrook, said: “Achieving the second close is a meaningful milestone because it gives us a larger war chest to commit to a swelling investment pipeline. We are currently working on the mitigation of key development risks on several projects so they can be presented for approval. We believe that de-risking projects before transferring them into the fund will help it to achieve the minimum 18% return target over its eight year life.” And Warren Schultze, CEO of Eris Property Group, commented: “We are currently reviewing projects in Mauritius, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda and Zambia, all of which present tremendous opportunities for our investors and the local communities in which they are based.”