Africa-focused premier investment firm Development Partners International (DPI) announces that the African Development Partners III Fund (ADP III) has exceeded its $800-million target and is set to hold a final close at $900-million, with an additional $250-million of dedicated co-investment capital.

That results in $1.15-billion being available for investments on the continent.

ADP III will invest in established and growing companies in industries that benefit from Africa’s fast-growing middle class and the increasing digital transformation of the continent.

All investments have the highest standards of impact and environmental, social and governance (ESG) work, DPI indicates.

It says that, in doing this work, it is using its proprietary DPI Management System toolkit to deliver impact in line with ten of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, as well as driving the highest standards of ESG.

ADP III secured capital from a range of leading pension and sovereign wealth funds, development finance institutions, endowments and foundations, insurance companies, fund-of-funds, asset managers and impact investors.

The global investor base represents 20 countries across North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

In addition to strong support from existing investors, DPI says it welcomed over 25 new limited partners into its investor base.

ADP III has made four investments to date, including Channel VAS, a global fintech business providing mobile financial services; SICAM, a Tunisian tomato producer; Kelix Bio, a biopharmaceutical platform broadening access to speciality generic drugs across Africa; and MNT-Halan, an Egyptian fintech ecosystem.

Additionally, DPI says it has a significant pipeline of investment opportunities across the continent, focused on key sectors of the economy such as financial services, healthcare, agribusiness, education and telecoms infrastructure.