Project detail - Savannah Impact Advisory Limited Company

Who is our customer?

Savannah Impact Advisory, a fund manager domiciled in Ghana and responsible for managing CiGaba (the fund).

What is our funding objective?

While supporting the development of a robust local private equity and venture capital ecosystem in Ghana and West Africa, FMO’s primary objective in funding CiGaba is to support the coverage of the Fund Manager's operational costs. This includes building internal team capacity and providing bridge funding until they reach the full fund size and can sustain operational costs through management fees. Additionally, part of the funding will be allocated to post-investment technical assistance for emerging fund managers.

Why do we fund this investment?

FMO is funding Ci-Gaba to advance its 2030 Strategy, which emphasizes inclusive and sustainable economic growth and reducing inequalities. A key element of this strategy is attracting pension funds to invest in impactful asset classes. Ci-Gaba, as a locally domiciled fund-of-funds, plays a pivotal role by mobilizing domestic capital, building market confidence, and fostering institutional learning in alternative assets. This enables pension funds to diversify away from government securities and contributes to macroeconomic resilience. The project also supports FMO’s market creation goals, particularly in mobilizing local capital for small and growing businesses (SGBs) and SMEs across West Africa. Ci-Gaba addresses critical financing challenges these businesses face -such as mismatched currency, tenure, and support structures- by offering tailored investment and technical assistance. This approach is designed to foster financial inclusion and economic development in countries like Ghana, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, and Senegal. Ci-Gaba is intended to serve as a replicable model for fund-of-funds structures in emerging markets. By catalyzing Ghana’s domestic capital markets, especially through pension fund participation, it aims to unlock private investment opportunities and strengthen the local financial ecosystem. This aligns with broader efforts to build scalable and sustainable investment frameworks in the region. The initiative also strongly aligns with the criteria of the Investing in Young Businesses in Africa – Market Creation (IYBA-MC) program. It emphasizes financial inclusion, early-stage financing for MSMEs, and mobilization of local institutional capital. Notably, Ci-Gaba incorporates gender lens investing, with up to 40% of its investments targeted at women-founded or majority women-led enterprises.