US firm to tap low-income consumers in Nigeria, others with $800m investment

Rising demand among the low-income consumers in Nigeria and other African countries is the target of an $800 million investment being planned by US-based Leapfrog Investments Limited.

The company according to a Bloomberg report is seeking stakes in African banks, insurance brokers and payment companies.

About $200 million in investment in the fund will come from Overseas Private Investment Corp., a Washington-based development financing unit of the US government.

Hungarian-American billionaire, George Soros, chairman of Soro Fund Management, also invested in Leapfrog’s first fund through his Soros Economic Development Fund according Bloomberg.

In providing the investment, Leapfrog will be depending on the significant population of low-income consumers in countries like Nigeria and Ghana where they are the absolute majority.

“We are speaking to insurance companies, ones that are looking for capital and those ones with sufficient capital but are looking to take advantage of consolidation and grow market share. We are looking at payment companies because it is becoming a popular tool that just offers much cheaper ways of doing business,” said Karima Olokun-Ola, a partner at Leapfrog in London.

 

FRANK ELEANYA