Mobilise capital for SMEs to drive growth — FSD Africa Director
The Director, Catalyst Transactions, FSD Africa, Mr David Tetteh, has indicated that Africa, including Ghana, needs a financial vehicle that will safely and credibly move its capital to Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) to enable them to grow and contribute to the economy.
He explained that although Africa, including Ghana, had enough capital, the lack of a credible financial vehicle to ensure the movement of such capital to SMEs slowed down the economic growth of the continent.
According to Mr Tetteh, the Ci Gaba Fund of Funds by the Savannah Impact Advisory served as an important financial vehicle that will help drive private capital for sustainable growth, especially for SMEs in Ghana and Africa as a whole.
Mr Tetteh said this while delivering the keynote address at the launch of the first close of the Ci Gaba Fund of Funds held in Accra yesterday.
The Ci Gaba Fund of Funds is designed to mobilise pension capital into private equity and private debt investment across Ghana and West Africa and strengthen Ghana’s financial ecosystem by investing in both experienced and emerging fund managers.
“Africa is not short of capital. What we actually need are vehicles that will take this capital and drive it to the real sector, and these vehicles are similar to the power grids, transformers, substations, and grid lines that we need to connect capital to SMEs,” Mr Tetteh said.
He explained that the fund-for-funds initiative had become important as most European countries that supported Africa through capital investment were cutting down on their budget to focus on security.
Additionally, Mr Tetteh noted that the initiative would grow the SME sector as most of institutional capital were channeled towards the energy, mining, and extractive sectors.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Savannah Impact Advisory (SIA), managers of the Ci Gaba Fund, Hamdiya Ismaila, said the launch of the fund-for-funds meant that it was now open for business.
“Today, we are closing at GH¢380 million and we are going to be investing in funds and then in SMEs across multiple sectors that drives the economy of the country to create jobs and improve the livelihood of our population,” she stated.
According to her, the fund was not only looking at local investment but also foreign investment, noting:
“We are a mother fund that pull large scale of capital and then distribute it among the smaller funds who are much closer to the SMEs in different areas.”
The CEO urged the government to lead the conversation on venture capital in the country and support its growth.
There were also remarks by Mrs Carol Annang, Chairperson, Savannah Impact Advisory, Mrs Dinah Hammond, Principal, Savannah Impact Advisory, and Mrs Amma Lartey, CEO of Impact Investing Ghana, who urged both local and foreign investors to invest in the fund.
Present at the event were industry players in the financial sector, fund managers, partners, and investors.
BY BENJAMIN ARCTON-TETTEY
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