Into Africa: Ex-navy SEAL sets trail for investors
Erik Prince of Blackwater fame has set up a company that will be the 'search radar' to help firms manage the risks of investing there
The man who built up Blackwater - the giant private security force that guarded US diplomats in some of the world's most dangerous places, including Afghanistan and Iraq - sees Africa as his future.
After Erik Prince sold his firm to investors about two years ago, the former officer in the Navy SEALs - the special US military force that killed Osama bin Laden last year - set up a new company called Frontier Resource Group (FRG) early this year.
FRG is an Africa-dedicated investment firm partnered with major Chinese enterprises, including at least one state-owned resource giant that is keen to pour money into the resource-rich continent.
"Africa is so far the most unexplored part of the world, and I think China has seen a lot of promise in Africa," Prince said during a brief trip to Hong Kong last week to meet potential Chinese investors and partners. "But the problem is if you go alone, you bear the country risk on your own. You have to get support and maintenance there," Prince, FRG's managing partner, told the South China Morning Post in an exclusive interview.
Despite the geographical distance, economic and diplomatic ties between Beijing and many African countries have rapidly strengthened in the past decade.
Earlier this year, Beijing pledged US$20 billion in credit to African governments over the next three years.