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KwaZulu-Natal based alternative asset manager Orange Capital has merged into South Africa's Alpha group, cementing the group's position as a premium boutique financial services provider.

"It is our belief that Africa is at a tipping point and that in the not too distant future we will be talking about the strength of Africa as we do about the BRIC and Asian Tiger economies,"

The Zambezi Fund, a Zimbabwean portfolio advised by the Johannesburg-based Laurium Capital team in conjunction with global investment advisory firm Ambata Partners, has had a strong start.

The Barak Structured Trade Finance Fund added a strong 7.8% in the first half, following a net 14.9% gain in the first 11 months of 2009 (or an annualised 16.25%).

HedgeNews Africa sits down with Marilyn Ramplin, founder and CEO of London-based Ramplin Capital and founder of UCITS for Hedge Funds and the UCITS University.

The team at PSG Absolute Investments, based in Cape Town's leafy suburb of Constantia, continues to make good progress with its suite of four distinctive single-strategy hedge funds, managed by dedicated investment professionals.

Professor Paul van Rensburg at Salient Quantitative Investment Management is building a diversified business based on a range of his proprietary quantitative models, which invest both in South African and offshore markets.

Mauritius-based Sustainable Capital has an eight-month track record with the Africa Sustainability Fund, the first sustainable investment fund focused on listed African equities. The team plans to launch a more active, concentrated fund towards year-end.

When I meet Peregrine Capital's David Fraser at his offices in Sandown, Johannesburg, he has just returned from three days in the Democratic Republic of Congo. One colleague is in China, the other is recently back from Australia.

"Right now there is 24-hour visibility," said Insparo's Mohammed Hanif from his London office in mid-June. "It is the first time since late 2008 that we have seen stress signals at the foundation of the markets. I don't think we have experienced as eventful a moment since the Lehman's demise."