Ashburton Investments: Fund buys assets in Nigeria, Egypt

Ashburton Investments, a fund manager owned by FirstRand, is buying Nigerian banks and Egyptian exporters for the Africa equity opportunities fund it opened to local investors yesterday. The fund, with $29 million (R313m) under management, had bet on Lagos-based lenders such as Guaranty Bank and FBN Holdings to boost returns, fund manager Paul Clark said. It also expected Cairo-based Oriental Weavers to benefit from a falling currency. – Bloomberg