Catalyst Principal Partners, an East Africa-focused private equity firm, has secured US$125 million in commitments for its first private equity fund. Catalyst Fund 1, which was targeting US$100 million in commitments, will invest in the consumer goods, retail, technology, services, manufacturing and engineering sectors in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Investors in the fund include International Finance Corporation, European Investment Bank, African Development Bank and German development bank DEG.