Ci Gaba Venture Capital Fund of Funds Reaches GHS 383 Million First Close, Unlocking West Africa’s Pension Capital for Private Markets

Impact Investing Ghana (IIGh) has announced the first close of the Ci Gaba Venture Capital Limited Fund of Funds at GHS 383m, marking the first private fund of funds domiciled in West Africa.

The vehicle, which targets GHS 1bn, is managed by Savannah Impact Advisory and backed by a coalition of Ghanaian pension funds and development finance institutions.

The fund will invest in private equity, venture capital and private debt funds targeting small and medium-sized enterprises across Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire. It is structured as a permanent capital vehicle denominated in Ghanaian cedis, incorporating a catalytic first-loss layer to align fiduciary standards with long-term investment in the region’s productive sectors.

Anchor investors include Stanbic Investment Management Services, CAL Asset Management Company, FSD Africa Investments and the Small Foundation, with additional support from FMO, the Dutch development bank. Technical assistance for design, fund structuring and trustee capacity building was provided by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office through the RISA Fund, GSG Impact, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Argidius Foundation, Axis Pensions, Enterprise Trustees and the Ghanaian Pensions Industry Collaborative.

The fund’s structure reflects a strategic push to mobilise domestic institutional capital for private markets. Across Africa, pension funds hold more than $700bn in assets, but less than 10% is deployed in productive sectors; in Ghana, the proportion allocated to alternative investments is below 1%. With SMEs accounting for 92% of enterprises and 80% of employment on the continent, the financing gap stands at $331bn. Ci Gaba represents one of the first attempts to channel Ghanaian pension capital systematically into professionally managed private investment funds, embedding local ownership while reducing reliance on foreign currency-denominated development finance.

The fund is now in the deployment phase, with a focus on building a diversified portfolio of private investment vehicles across West Africa. Its sponsors and management team are seeking additional commitments to reach the full GHS 1bn target. For pension funds and institutional investors across the region, the structure offers a potential blueprint for converting domestic long-term savings into growth capital for SMEs, combining fiduciary discipline with the development of local capital markets.