Staff Writer

Sierra Leone is forecast to become a “renewable energy hub” in Africa as seven organisations sign up to €133m of debt financing for an integrated renewable energy and agriculture project.

A New York investment firm is busy educating investors on the opportunity in water. Alexandra Atiya meets its co-founders to find out more.

The Australian sovereign wealth fund continues to increase its exposure to real estate, private equity and infrastructure, according to its Q1 2011 portfolio update. Future Fund’s infra and timberland assets increased by A$562m in the first three months of the year.

The Toronto-based asset manager attracted $330m for its first private investment fund focused exclusively on agricultural land. The Brookfield Brazil 'AgriLand' Fund aims to make money by buying up pasture lands in Brazil and converting them to crops.

To tackle the growing water crisis the world is facing, we need to look for new and innovative ways in which the private sector can help to improve the management and delivery of this precious resource, the IFC’s Jane Jamieson and Vipul Bhagat argue.

Philip Alfieri has left Infrastructure Management Group to help Franklin Templeton select fund managers specialising in transportation, agriculture, water, energy and timber investments.

Institutional investors are expected to commit almost $4 billion of equity to the timberland asset class in 2010. From rarely featuring in investment portfolios in years gone by, timberland is becoming an increasingly attractive sector as LPs seek to diversify and green their investments.

The private equity arm of Citigroup has made an all-equity minority investment in the livestock pharmaceuticals producer.

The New-York based investment firm is aiming to raise $1bn from institutions, endowments and family offices for investments in Brazil, Uruguay and Australia.

Asset management firm Franklin Templeton’s real estate arm has established a newly dedicated business team to analyse, select and invest in real asset fund opportunities including energy, water, agriculture and timber.