Maghreb Private Equity Fund II, a risk-capital investment fund, will start operations next Monday (November 13th), equipped with 56m euros in capital. The main investors are the World Bank's International Financial Corporation, the European Investment Bank, the Netherlands Development Finance Company, the Swiss Investment Fund for Emerging Markets, the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries, French Groupe Caisse de Dépôts, the Société de Promotion et de Participation pour la Coopération Economique, Averroes Finance, and Tuninvest Finance Group.

The fund will start in Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco and extend to Libya at a later period. The fund is meant for Maghreb private companies to support their local and international development and to give them opportunities to participate in the privatisation of Maghreb public companies.

The fund is the second created to support Maghreb economies. The first fund was launched in 2000 and was equipped with capital of $23.1m for investment in establishment of small and medium enterprises with strong growth potential.

Maghreb Private Equity Fund II launched