Global Environment Fund beats target for Africa forestry fund

Global Environment Fund (GEF) has raised $160 million into its Africa Sustainable Forestry Fund, exceeding its target of $150 million.

The Maryland-based fund manager claims the fund is the first private equity fund to focus solely on sustainable forestry in sub-Saharan Africa.

Its strategy is to invest predominantly in existing plantations and seek Forestry Stewardship Council certification, targeting investments in the $15 million to $30 million range.

It is targeting investments in Gabon, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, and has already made investments in existing plantations in South Africa and Tanzania, and has begun a reforestation project in Ghana.

According to Environmental Finance Publication’s Forestry Funds Directory 2012, GEF had raised $124 million from development finance institutions at the fund’s first close, in May 2010. The company did not disclose where the subsequent investment had come from.