London, 23 October 2013: The African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA) today welcomes Andrew Johnstone, Chief Executive Officer at African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), Macquarie, and Ziad Oueslati, Founding Partner, AfricInvest-TunInvest Group, as the latest appointments to its Board of Directors.
Both are African private equity veterans. An experienced infrastructure specialist, Andrew Johnstone is responsible for all aspects of AIIM’s business, with over USD1 billion in funds under management, spanning four Africa-focused funds. Ziad Oueslati co-founded AfricInvest-TunInvest Group in 1994, a private equity firm operating in North and sub-Saharan Africa, and led the arrangement and placement of over USD750 million across its thirteen funds.
Responding to his appointment, Andrew Johnstone said, “Steered by its leadership team and Board of Directors, AVCA has done a fantastic job of galvanising private sector investment across the African continent, and I am delighted to be joining the Board. Given its size and stage of development, Africa faces a very real need for further infrastructure investment over the near term. I look forward to being able to provide unique insights to support the association’s efforts to connect sources of capital with these investment opportunities.”
Commenting further, Ziad Oueslati added, “Andrew and I shared a panel at AVCA’s conference in April this year on the exceptional growth and outstanding returns that can be found from private equity investments in Africa. The AfricInvest-TunInvest Group was one of the founding members of AVCA nearly twelve years ago, and we have always shared the industry’s and AVCA’s view that private sector investment in Africa adds real value to companies and contributes to the development of the local economies and communities, while generating attractive returns to investors. I am honoured to join the Board and to work with the AVCA Directors to continue to be a real advocate for its members and for the industry.”
AVCA’s Board of Directors, chaired by Runa Alam, co-Founder and CEO of Development Partners International, comprises sixteen African private equity industry leaders, including: Marlon Chigwende, MD & co-Head, Carlyle Sub-Saharan Africa Fund; Thierry Dalais, Founder and Executive Chairman, Metier; Hurley Doddy, MD, Founding Partner and co-CEO, Emerging Capital Partners; Okechukwu (Okey) Enelamah, CEO, African Capital Alliance; Michelle Kathryn Essomé, CEO, AVCA; ‘Tokunboh Ishmael, co-Founder and MD, Alitheia Capital; Andrew Johnstone, CEO, African Infrastructure Investment Managers, Macquarie; Paul Kavuma, CEO, Catalyst Principal Partners; Jacob Kholi, Managing Partner, The Abraaj Group; Papa Madiaw Ndiaye, Founder and CEO, Advanced Finance & Investment Group; Henry Obi, COO, Helios Investment Partners; Ziad Oueslati, Founding Partner, AfricInvest-TunInvest Group;Dara Owoyemi, COO, AVCA; Karim Sadek, MD, Citadel Capital; Anthony Siwawa, Founder and MD, Venture Partners Botswana.