U.S.-based private equity firm, Kohlberg, Kravis, & Roberts (KKR) is planning to invest $100 million in the African agriculture, food, infrastructure, and energy sectors within a year’s time, according to Dominique Lafont, a senior advisor at KKR.

 

“We want to use Nigeria as regional base and springboard for West Africa,” said Lafont. “We are not limited to one sector.”

 

Lafont had been appointed by KKR in July of this year to head up the expansion of its African business. A mainstay in the private equity world, KKR has completed transactions collectively valued at over $400 billion since its founding. Non-bank sources of funding are becoming more attractive as government and bank-sourced funding is becoming more difficult to obtain, and KKR & Co. has raised $3.1 billion to invest in infrastructure projects such as a New Jersey wastewater system and renewable energy projects. Much like agriculture and agribusiness investments, the fund mainly invests in renewable energy, utility and transportation assets, and pipelines as a means for investors to diversify into assets that provide cash flows while hedging against inflation.