Morocco and Egypt continue to dominate the private equity industry in North Africa, accounting for 81% of the value all deals in the region since the start of the decade, according to new research by Forbes magazine.
Morocco holds a slightly lead over Egypt, with the countries accounting for 41% and 40% of the total value of deals respectively. The next most significant market was Tunisia, which accounted for 13% of the total value of deals.
The numbers, compiled by the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA), cover the period from January 2010 to June 2016. In that time, there were 139 private equity deals reported in the region, with a total value of $2.4bn.
In terms of the number of deals, Morocco accounted for 46% of the total, followed by Tunisia with 25% and Egypt with 24%.
Key areas that have been targeted by private equity investors include manufacturing, education, healthcare and consumer goods. The manufacturing sector in particular benefits from North African countries’ close connections to the nearby European Union – Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia all have association agreements with the EU which reduce or remove tariffs on their exports
The key sectors targeted by private investors include manufacturing, education, health and consumer goods. Manufacturing takes advantage of the close ties between the countries of North Africa and the neighboring European Union countries bound by association agreements with the EU on the reduction or elimination of tariffs on their exports. In addition, Algeria, Egypt and Morocco have large domestic markets, with between 33 and 82 million consumers.
In addition, Algeria, Egypt and Morocco have sizeable domestic markets of between 33 million and 82 million consumers.
