Africa trade body forges regulatory committee

White & Case partner Mara Topping and O’Melveny & Myers partner Solomon Wifa will co-lead a group of ten corporate lawyers assembled by the African Venture Capital Association (AVCA) that will fight for rulemaking friendly to Africa’s building private equity industry.  

The AVCA’s Legal & Regulatory Committee will track and monitor legislation, educate policymakers, and launch advocacy initiatives on a continent being described as private equity’s “last frontier market”. 

AVCA was not immediately available to comment on what legal developments might first catch the committee’s eye. However a number of Africa sovereigns have recently begun, or at least considered, rules designed to encourage institutional investment into homegrown private fund managers. 

AVCA’s efforts will be supplemented by a report from the Emerging Private Equity Association (EMPEA) outlining how frontier markets should shape their tax and legal regimes to encourage private equity investment. 

Among the recommendations was for jurisdictions to foster a reliable framework for public offerings; limited liability protections for investors; and the introduction of different classes of equity securities and debt interests for securities holders.

“As regulators and pension funds across Africa are now looking to private equity as a key developmental investment tool, it is vital that AVCA act as an advisor on global private equity best practices”, the organisation said in a statement. 

A full list of the committee members can be found HERE.