Impact Investing Ghana (IIGh) has announced the first close of the Ci Gaba Venture Capital Limited Fund of Funds at GHS 383 million — a milestone that signals a new era for private capital markets in West Africa.
The fund holds the distinction of being the first private fund of funds domiciled in West Africa, with an ambitious target size of GHS 1 billion.
This achievement is the culmination of five years of sustained effort in partnership with Savannah Impact Advisory, the fund’s appointed manager.
Channelling Capital Where It Matters Most
The Ci Gaba Fund of Funds is designed to unlock domestic institutional capital for Private Equity, Venture Capital, and Private Debt funds — vehicles that in turn direct investment into small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, and Côte d’Ivoire.
By targeting the SME segment across four key West African markets, the fund addresses one of the most persistent financing gaps on the continent.
Anchoring this landmark vehicle are a group of visionary institutional partners: FSD Africa Investments, Small Foundation, Stanbic Investment Management Services, and CAL Asset Management Company Ltd., with additional support from FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank.
A Turning Point for Domestic Institutional Capital
What makes this first close particularly significant is not just its scale, but its structure. By mobilising domestic institutional investors alongside international development finance, the Ci Gaba Fund of Funds demonstrates that local capital can and should play a central role in financing Africa’s growth story.
For IIGh, the milestone carries deeper meaning. “This achievement is more than funding,” the organisation noted. “It is proof that impact investing is shaping the Ghana we want to see and the Africa we dream of. “
An Ecosystem Built Over Years
The road to this first close was paved by an extensive network of partners who supported the fund’s design, structuring, operational setup, and ecosystem development.
Key contributors include the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office through the RISA Fund, GSG Impact, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Argidius Foundation, Axis Pensions Ltd, Enterprise Trustees, and the Ghanaian Pensions Industry Collaborative.
Their collective involvement reflects how complex and collaborative the work of building an entirely new financial instrument — the first of its kind in the region — truly is.
Building the Africa Dream
The Ci Gaba Fund of Funds arrives at a moment when the conversation around African capital markets is shifting. There is growing recognition that sustainable development on the continent cannot depend solely on foreign aid or international investment.
Mobilising domestic savings, pension funds, and institutional capital into productive, impact-driven vehicles is the next frontier.
This first close is a strong proof of concept — evidence that with the right structures, the right partners, and the right conviction, it is possible to build financial infrastructure that serves Africa from within.
With GHS 383 million secured and a target of GHS 1 billion in sight, the Ci Gaba Fund of Funds is open for business — and the vision of inclusive, homegrown growth across West Africa is closer than ever.
FSD Africa Investments
FSD Africa Investments, a UK-backed specialist development finance investor, committed $7.5 million to the first close.
Its Director, Catalyst Transactions, David Tetteh, described the fund as timely and indicated that Africa needed a financial vehicle that would 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 sufficient capital, the lack of a credible financial vehicle to channel it to SMEs slowed the continent’s economic growth.
The Ci Gaba Fund of Funds by the Savannah Impact Advisory, he said, would serve as an important financial vehicle to attract private capital for sustainable growth, especially for SMEs in the country and across Africa.
