Global buyout firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Carlyle Group have bolstered their fledgling sub-Saharan Africa teams with new hires, which come at the busiest time for private equity deals in the region since the financial crisis.

Fola Aiyesimoju, the former head of mergers and acquisitions in Lagos, Nigeria, at Stanbic IBTC Bank, a division of South Africa's Standard Bank, will join KKR in May, a spokeswoman for KKR confirmed.