The pan-African private equity fund manager, which specializes in energy and infrastructure investments, said the fund has been structured as a blended finance platform that accommodates both US dollar and local currency investments within a single vehicle.

The approach is intended to address one of the longstanding challenges in African infrastructure financing by allowing investors to participate in currencies that better match the realities of local projects.

The fund is targeting a final close of $200 million and will focus on financing infrastructure equity opportunities across sub-Saharan Africa, particularly projects linked to the energy transition and climate resilience agenda.

A key feature of the fund is its emphasis on attracting domestic institutional investors, including pension funds, which have traditionally played a limited role in infrastructure equity despite managing significant pools of capital.

Infrastructure financing in Africa continues to face a substantial funding gap, with development finance institutions and governments increasingly calling for greater participation from local investors to help meet the continent’s growing infrastructure needs.

The first close was supported by $20 million in catalytic funding provided jointly by FSD Africa Investments and the African Development Bank through its Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA).

The capital is intended to reduce investment risks for local pension funds and other institutional investors, making it easier for them to allocate capital to long-term infrastructure projects.

Rachel Moré-Oshodi, Chief Executive Officer of ARM-Harith, said the fund represents the next phase of the firm’s efforts to mobilise African capital for infrastructure development.

“This first close marks an important milestone for ARM-Harith and signals a new chapter in how infrastructure can be financed across Africa,” she said.

Moré-Oshodi noted that the firm’s earlier fund demonstrated that domestic institutional investors could successfully participate in infrastructure equity investments.

She said the successor fund builds on that experience by combining local and foreign currency capital within a single structure.

“By bringing together local and hard-currency investors, we are creating a model that better reflects the realities of infrastructure assets across African markets,” she said.

“This is not simply a new fund structure. It is a more practical approach that mobilises domestic savings, attracts international investment and allocates risk in a more efficient way.”

She added that the institutions backing the fund are helping to shape a financing model that could unlock greater investment into the infrastructure required to support economic growth and development across the continent.

ARM-Harith, a joint venture between Nigeria-based Asset & Resource Management Holding Company (ARM) and South Africa’s Harith General Partners, has built a track record of investing in infrastructure and energy projects across Africa.

The firm focuses on sectors including power, transport, digital infrastructure and essential services, with an emphasis on projects that support sustainable economic growth.

The latest fundraising comes at a time when African governments and development institutions are increasingly seeking innovative financing structures to attract private capital into infrastructure, particularly projects that support clean energy, climate adaptation and economic resilience.

The success of the fund’s first close is expected to provide momentum as ARM-Harith works towards its $200 million target.