Top Africa Pension Fund to Invest $1.6 Billion in Private Firms

South Africa’s Government Employees Pension Fund will invest about 25 billion rand ($1.6 billion) in unlisted companies across the continent, according to people with knowledge of the matter, renewing a contract with its adviser more than a year after it initially expired.

The Public Investment Corp., which manages more than 2.1 trillion rand in assets, will decide on the investments, according to a joint statement the two companies released on Tuesday, without giving financial details. GEPF may set aside more money for investing in unlisted securities later, the people said, asking not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the matter.