Britam Asset Managers has injected 1.4 billion shillings into a private equity company dealing with energy assets in Africa; Everstrong Power, in a bid to expands its investment ventures.
The funds will be used to purchase a stake in Gulf Energy’s 80MW heavy fuel in Athi River and through the investment, Britam’s clients are set to achieve diversification across asset classes and currencies.
According to Kenneth Kaniu, chief executive of Britam Asset Managers, the returns of the power plant will be beneficial as it will be a hard currency.
“We are also playing a role in both the funding and in the provision of long-term capital into the Kenyan power sector. Moreover, through this investment, Britam Asset Managers clients will be able to have more stable returns and they will benefit from the diversification this asset provides” he said.
Currently, Britam Asset Managers oversee assets under management worth 158 billion shillings. The company also has asset investments that stretch across East Africa for both retail and institutional clients including insurance and education funds, pension schemes, and foundations focusing on long-term assets.
Overall investment income, of late, have been relatively volatile in the country. The reason is attributed to bias towards certain asset classes including T-bills, corporate bonds, commercial papers, T-Bonds, equity market, and bank deposits. This has left little room for diversification.
Francis Njogu, Gulf Energy Group chief executive officer said that Everstrong Power is an independent power producer, which is one of the best performing power producers in Kenya with production that surpasses the standards set by Kenya Power.
“As the leading local developer of power projects in the country, Gulf Energy continues to offer very attractive investment opportunities to partners such as Britain, with access to large pools of capital looking for excellent and stable long-term returns,” Njogu said.
“This is a good start and we intend to assemble more investments that allow Britam and others to invest into energy, transport, and communications infrastructure,” concluded Everstrong Capital LLC Principal Africa and Country Head Kenya, John Ouko.
Source:soko directory