Bankers and Dealmakers Set Their Sights on Africa
While the continent is growing fast, big profits are a long way off
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One evening in July, Lazard banker Matthieu Pigasse was in Congo’s capital city of Brazzaville trying to catch the last ferry across the Congo River for meetings in Kinshasa. In September, Lazard announced that Pigasse—who has advised on some of France’s biggest deals, including the $50 billion utility merger that created GDF Suez in 2008—will head a team that now numbers a dozen bankers dedicated to mergers in the region. “It is the new frontier,” says Pigasse. “The potential of the M&A market will be big in the coming years.” Banks including Citigroup, Barclays, and Standard Chartered also are expanding their presence in Africa.