Context

In South Africa, small growth businesses (SGBs) have a poor survival rate due to lack of access to affordable and appropriately structured capital, lack of local currency, and a general lack of support from the financial ecosystem. Banks, private equity and venture capitalists (VCs) are unable or unwilling to invest appropriate capital due to the high-risk profile of many SGBs and regulatory constraints.

Scope of work

‘Tshikululu’ social investments is a social investment fund manager and advisor based in South Africa, working alongside investors and other development partners to maximise the power of social investment in South Africa.  Tshkilulu will use the programme’s support to test the feasibility of establishing an Impact Investment Wholesale Vehicle that is likely to resemble a Fund of Funds. It will aim to attract capital from a blend of concessional and institutional investors to be distributed to funds, vehicles and other platforms that are investing early-stage finance into SGBs. It’s findings will provide a valuable learnings to similar economies in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.