NAIROBI (Reuters) – Egyptian private equity firm Citadel Capital said on Monday it is setting up a new $150 million co-investment fund for Africa, focusing particularly on the east of the continent.

The main investors in the fund will be PROPARCO, a French development financial institution, the Dutch development bank FMO, along with the African Development Bank (AfDB) and potentially a fourth financier, which Citadel Capital would not disclose.

“(It is) our first ever fund, a co-investment fund. We are looking at closing for it by the end of the second quarter,” Citadel’s Karim Sadek, a managing director, told Reuters in an interview.

“They will be co-investing two-to-one for every dollar they have invested equity to. They are looking at a number of deals; waste management, the agrisector, transport.”

Citadel Capital, which manages $8.3 billion in investments, has said it is looking to expand its investments in Middle Eastern and East African countries, especially those with big domestic markets in commodities, such as Algeria, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya.

Citadel Capital, which has created 17 companies to invest in the Middle East and East Africa, said in October it had set up at least two new funds for investment in these regions.

The Africa-centric fund is expected to take the lion’s share of the $500 million total Citadel Capital is targeting for the two new funds.

(Editing by Greg Mahlich)