Africa-based and African-led investment funds prioritising social impact alongside financial reward face a particularly difficult task in securing capital. Polo Leteka, founder and chairman of IDF Capital, remarks, “It’s hurdle, after hurdle, after hurdle. And that’s what makes it prohibitive for a lot of fund managers, or potential fund managers, to get into this [impact investing] space.”
The Bridgespan Group recently released a report on Closing the Capital Gap on Impact Investments in Africa, highlighting the challenges fund managers face in raising and deploying capital while proposing potential solutions. African fund managers can play a pivotal role in impact investing, using their proximity, networks, lived experience, and leadership to shape the future of impact capital in Africa.
So how can asset owners and limited partners support African GPs to close the funding gap and attract sufficient impact capital to meet pressing social challenges in Africa? We welcome you to join us on 17th October, as we unpack this research piece, sharing insights from Bernard Chizero, Senior Advisor at the Bridgespan Group and Adesuwa Rhodes, Managing Partner at Aruwa Capital. The panel will discuss the challenges, shifting paradigms, opportunities in adversity and building partnerships among key stakeholders to enable the flow of capital to impact investments.