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Dubai-based Abraaj, which manages about $13.6 billion, is reorganising the business following allegations in recent weeks that money in its healthcare fund had been misused. This is leading to departure of the firm’s top executives.
Abraaj Group, at the center of an investigation into claims of missing funds, chose to cut its workforce as lenders and investors reviewed their relationship with the firm and efforts to raise a $6billion fund stalled.
Abraaj said to have more than 300 investors, including institutions and development financing bodies, intends to restart fundraising discussions once its reorganisation is complete. The Abraaj Group is an investor operating in the growth markets of Africa, Asia, Latin America, Middle East and Turkey.
Ashish Dave, chief financial officer, has already left the firm, and there are indications that other senior staff plan to exit. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) unit, CDC Group and Proparco Group had hired a forensic accountant to examine what happened to some of their money in the $1billion healthcare fund.
Dave is the most prominent executive to have left the embattled company since founder Arif Naqvi last month announced he was stepping aside from the running of the fund business.
Abraaj, which focuses mostly on emerging markets known for their high risk and high reward business climate, has invested over $2.5 billion across the continent’s top markets (including Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria) over the past couple of years.
Abraaj’s deeply diversified private equity investment portfolio in Nigeria includes: Mouka Foam a leading mattress manufacturer in Nigeria; West African FMCG company, Fan Milk; AOS Orwell, C&I Leasing, Custodian & Allied Insurance, Computer Warehouse Group, The Bridge Clinic & PathCare, and Lily Hospitals.
