Moyo becomes CDC head of Africa

Nkosana Moyo, the former industry minister in Zimbabwe, has been appointed to head up CDC Capital Partners’ investment activities in Africa.

Moyo was appointed industry minister in July 2000 but resigned in May 2001 after publicly speaking out against attacks on businesses and factories by war veterans. He had described conditions for foreign corporations in the country as ‘impossible’.

After leaving his government post, Moyo has spent the last two and a half years at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), where he worked on SME development in sub-Saharan Africa from an office in Johannesburg.

Earlier in his career, Moyo spent around six years with Standard Chartered Bank as managing director of Standard Chartered Merchant Bank in Zimbabwe and also as regional head of corporate banking for Africa when based in London.

On leaving Standard Chartered, Moyo set up Batanai Capital Finance, a venture capital firm based in Zimbabwe.

“CDC has always been at the forefront in terms of providing finance and sectoral expertise to the private sector in Africa,” said Moyo. “I look forward to playing my part as it continues to establish itself as the leading risk capital investor across the region.”

CDC chief executive Paul Fletcher said the organisation currently manages over £350m in Africa and is looking to increase this figure ‘substantially’ over the next two years.

In 1999, CDC became a publicly listed company 100 per cent-owned by the UK Government’s Department for International Development. It provides risk capital for business ventures in developing countries and currently manages a $1.5bn portfolio of businesses in Latin America, Africa and Asia.