An African-focused private equity firm, One Thousand & One Voices (1K1V) LLC, has come up with a new funding model that bringing together leading and wealthy American families to sub Sahara Africa with a view to creating jobs and economic development.
1K1V was started by John Coors of the Coors Brewing family, who are investing their Relational Capital, Intellectual Capital and Patient Financial Capital — or Three-Dimensional Capital – to profitably accelerate prosperity in developing markets, starting with a $300 million fund for sub-Saharan Africa.
“We will be supporting the growing middle class in Africa which will also see us invest in sectors such as Agriculture, consumer goods, financial services, health care, logistics & distribution, and manufacturing,” Hendrik Jordaan, president and chief executive officer of the fund, said in a March 19 interview with BusinessDay.
In a statement during its launch in May last year, the fund said it was seeking to provide financial capital that is sufficiently patient to accelerate prosperity in developing markets, addressing a major shortcoming of traditional private equity and many impact investment funds.
“Our view is that there has never been such an auspicious time for investment in Africa as right now, as growth rates are among the highest in the world, democratic institutions are being strengthened, and a vibrant middle class is rapidly expanding,” Navaid Burney, the funds managing director, was quoted by Ventures Africa when he was appointed in September.
The fund, which is set to open its Lagos office, is looking to do its first deal in Nigeria, very soon, according to Jordaan.
“There are over 100 opportunities on our radar,” said Jordaan.
“The fund will forge relationship between wealthy Nigeria families and other families in the world. However our first couple of deals in Nigeria will involve a consumer facing company and the other is a manufacturer both based in Lagos.”
1K1V will lead a delegation of families to the World Economic Forum’s conference in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja in May.
Because the movement is made up exclusively of families who are investing not only their financial capital but also their connections across the world and their industry-specific acumen and experience, 1K1V offers a unique type of private equity model that is focused on active involvement among investors to help investee companies grow and create jobs.
“You can call it Private Equity 2.0,” Jordaan told BusinessDay.
