The fund secured commitments from development finance institutions, pension funds, and family offices in Africa, Europe, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada.

Announced on August 18, 2026, ACO3 is the third fund in Ninety One’s Emerging Market Senior Credit series.

ACO3 invests mainly in senior secured private credit, which gives lenders priority over unsecured creditors and may include collateral or other protections.

The fund uses conservative financial leverage and provides flexible financing to established companies and infrastructure projects that may have limited access to suitable long-term capital through banks or public debt markets.

The fund has already completed more than 30 investments across Africa, Latin America, Asia, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Its portfolio covers communications, consumer businesses, financial services, healthcare, industrials, and materials, while several investments have already been exited.

Ninety One announced ACO3’s $260 million first close in November 2024.The International Finance Corporation, British International Investment, and the Swiss Investment Fund for Emerging Markets, advised by responsAbility, joined as anchor limited partners.

Standard Bank of South Africa also provided a $45 million sustainability-linked credit facility whose financing cost was tied to climate, carbon, and social targets.

An IFC investment disclosure described the fund as a 7.5-year closed-end vehicle designed to invest through U.S. dollar-denominated senior loans and bonds.

IFC approved an investment of up to $75 million and said the fund could offer longer loan terms than those typically available from banks in many African markets.

The IFC identified limited long-term funding, underdeveloped capital markets, tighter liquidity, and restrictions on bank lending as major constraints facing companies in the fund’s target markets.

These conditions create a role for private credit funds that can structure loans around the financing requirements and risk profiles of individual companies and projects.

“We continue to see a significant financing gap for high-quality businesses and infrastructure projects across Africa and other emerging markets,” said Nathaniel Micklem, co-head of Emerging Market Alternative Credit at Ninety One.

Micklem said Ninety One’s local presence, market expertise, and partnerships support its ability to originate investments and assess credit risks across emerging markets.

ACO3 is led by Steven Loubser and Kobina “Kobi” Sam, managing directors in the firm’s Emerging Market Alternative Credit team, who have an 18-year track record in private and alternative credit.

Across its three vintages, Ninety One’s Emerging Market Senior Credit strategy has raised $815 million and deployed more than $1.4 billion, including recycled capital, across over 100 counterparties in more than 30 countries.

The scale and geographic reach of the strategy show how private credit is becoming an additional source of financing for companies and infrastructure assets operating outside major public capital markets.

For African businesses, ACO3 expands access to structured nonbank financing that can support capital expenditure, expansion, and infrastructure development.

Its final close also connects institutional capital from several international markets with private-sector financing needs across Africa, although the fund’s mandate and existing portfolio extend to other emerging regions.