In September 2008, Paul Ford had been raising capital from Middle Eastern investors for an Africa-focused fund at private equity firm Ambata Capital. The funds would be used to invest in promising infrastructure projects and provide long-term financing in the region, a rare occurrence at the time. “It was a bold plan, but there was strong appetite for it, particularly from Abu Dhabi and Qatar,” says Mr Ford. All that remained was to wait for the end of Ramadan to close the fund.
It was not to be. On his way to the meeting in question, having gathered $2bn in commitments, Mr Ford learned of the collapse of Lehman Brothers. “It didn’t take long for investors to start pulling their support, and the whole fund collapsed,” recalls Mr Ford, who left Ambata soon after and is now CEO at risk and control data company Acin.
