$750M Greater Zimbabwe Impact Fund, a private equity fund managed by San Francisco Bay Area-based Gerken Capital Associates. Strategically based in Harare, the fund will invest throughout Southern Africa (Zimbabwe, S. Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Mozambique). The fund will provide expansion/growth capital to both public and private, small-to-mid size enterprises, that are cash flow positive and sector specific (mining, food & agri, infrastructure ancillaries and logistics, financial services, healthcare and tourism). Key to the fund’s strategy will be investing in companies that are able to embrace IT to digitally transform and scale business operations to become regionally dominant competitors. Landlocked and centrally located, Zimbabwe has historically been the commercial gateway to Southern Africa, representing over $500 billion in aggregate annual GDP, and over 25% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s total GDP. Export/import trade has historically been a key GDP driver, representing over 65% of Southern Africa’s total GDP. The fund’s regional investment strategy yields benefits comparable to free-trade zones, where clubbed together the countries trade more favorably, and achieve cross-border, spill-over benefits from investment in the region. Recognizing the fund’s strategic importance as a credible “local investor” to catalyze foreign investment into the region, the Zimbabwe Government has declared the fund “National Project Status”, giving it preferential treatment, including tax concessions, government financial assistance, and exemption from paying import duty and other taxes.
