<table><tr><th>From: </th><th></th></tr><tr><td>Sent:</td><td>Thursday, May 14, 2015 8:46 PM</td></tr><tr><td>To:</td><td>jeevacation@gmail.com</td></tr><tr><td>Subject:</td><td>More US Pension Fund Money for African PE?</td></tr></table>

is PE the route to wifi in Africa? Or more "venture partner" w Mastercard o= Silicon Valley or ??

Up to 5bn from a single NY pension fund;=that's how much we did in total in Africa in the first three quarte=s of this FY Africa Assets More US Pension Fund Money for African PE?

<http://www.africa-assets.com/sites/default/fi=es/styles/medium/public/field/image/new-york-city-view-1438278-m.jpg>

This subject is getting a bit of traction on the internet: The WSJ first r=ported that one of the largest US pension funds, the USD180bn New York Sta=e Common Retirement Fund, had announced that it would invest up to 3% of i=s assets — which could be around USD5bn - in Africa over t=e coming five years. Others like Quartz also picked up this story. Still: =or the New York State Common Retirement Fund, 3% is a modest amount to mov= into what is still new and uncertain territory for them. And in a message=to Quartz, they added a cautionary note that their investments will be mad= 'as opportunities arise and meet investment standards'. T=e fund will work with experienced Africa investors like Helios Investment =artners — who have just raised a USD1bn fund - and African=Capital, investment managers who have shown that they can deploy capital i= Africa's still often challenging market conditions. Helios are al=o among the still relatively co-i=vestment few funds that opportunities. can invest amounts African PE that fund will managers s=tisfy institutional have generally investors been looking tryin= to for raise scale funds and offer from non-DFI significant sources, but the usual gaggle of SME funds is=unlikely to get a look in here (On the other end of the scale, it'= worth noting that relative newcomer Ascent Capital have managed to convin=e two Kenyan pensions funds to invest USD4m and USD1m respectively). So th=s is cautiously good news, although it remains to be seen whether those US=Sbn will be absorbed, how much of it might go to private equity, and wheth=r, on balance, it was a profitable investment: if so, this will certainly =ttract more institutional investor capital from less Africa-experienced ma=kets. Time to perform!