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From Benedicte Gravrand, Geneva: The CIO of the first wholly Africa dedicated hedge fund talked to Opalesque about the fund, investing in Africa and African economic intricacies.

Africa is the last big investment frontier. African economies are gaining strength and stabilising through booming demand for commodities, lower debts and improved fiscal discipline. Africa is one of the fastest growing regions of the world (7 of the 20 fastest-growing economises are in Africa). And, alongside the economy but not unconnected to it, political regimes are gearing towards democracy. Despite the obvious investment opportunities these factors represent, the few African stock markets are still relatively unsophisticated; but on the upside, the equity markets’ correlation with the rest of the world is low. Africa still has its share of impoverished economies and imploding regimes, and for that reason can be perceived negatively by the investment community. But this has been changing recently; investment companies such as Investec, Stanlib, Imara, Lonrho, Pamodzi, Africa Opportunity Partners (backed by Tudor and Millenium), Renaissance Capital have taken the pioneering path and set up Africa-focused funds. And Scipion Capital Ltd. has just launched the first Africa hedge fund.

Nicolas Clavel, Scipion’s CIO, has been involved in trade finance in Africa since 1980. He has lived in Senegal, Congo and South Africa. He works closely with A......................

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