GAIA Fund Managers hope to raise $30 million through a listing of shares of the GAIA Renewables 1 on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE), the company executives told this publication in an interview.
When successful, the Fund Managers say the investment will be deployed in large-scale projects.
The listing this week, by way of introduction, enhances investor access to the GAIA Africa Climate Fund (GACF), a dedicated climate infrastructure vehicle, through a US$-denominated instrument now available in Botswana.
GAIA Renewables 1 provided Botswana investors with an opportunity to invest in the GAIA Africa Climate Fund (GACF), which in turn will make investments in Climate Infrastructure, which promotes access to clean energy, water and sanitation.
Through the acquisition of interests in operating infrastructure projects, the GACF, with its 10 year duration, will crowd in more private capital investors at all stages of the project development cycle and accelerate project development (1) by allowing project developers to recycle capital into new greenfield projects and (2) creating a demand for new projects.
BSE CEO Aupa Monyatsi said this issuance demonstrates the exchange’s dynamism and ability to attract products primarily listed in other markets. “We also hope, through this listing, to strengthen regional collaboration by deepening ties between BSE and Cape Town Stock Exchange, encouraging harmonisation of listing requirements and financial instruments across SADC exchanges and also opening the door for Botswana-originated infrastructure products to also seek regional listings.”
“The fact that GR1 Class B Preference Shares provide investors with exposure to income-generating green infrastructure projects in South Africa is an important element,” he said, adding that “this will allow Botswana institutional Investors to gain exposure to regional economic growth through renewable infrastructures, therefore diversifying their respective portfolios”.
GAIA Renewables 1 was established as a dedicated renewable energy investment platform to allow institutional and retail investors access to renewable energy investments in South Africa. The Company’s mandate has since been expanded to facilitate the investment of long-term capital in infrastructure in Africa.
Because of the capital that’s required to invest in these assets and the scarcity of investable opportunities, Renier de Wit, Managing Director, GAIA Fund Manager said, “We have to regionalise some of the investment”.
“We’ve got the projects lined up that we’re going to invest in. The first one is in Kenya and then there are a number of others that we have. We’re going to conclude as the capital flows.”
The listing removes traditional barriers to infrastructure investment by offering a transparent, regulated, and tradable instrument for investors seeking stable, inflation-linked returns.
With GACF already achieving first close commitments of US$50 million and aiming to raise up to US$200 million, the Fund will support the continent’s energy transition while crowding in private capital at all stages of infrastructure development.
The funding raised through the initial listing of the A Preference Shares in October 2020 enabled GAIA Fund Managers to provide investors with an indirect investment in the Tsitsikamma Community Wind Farm, a 95 megawatt wind farm based in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.
GAIA Fund Managers is a registered financial services provider and is considered a leading specialist secondary market infrastructure transaction team in South Africa, having concluded multiple fibre network, renewable energy and toll road infrastructure transactions in South Africa to a value in excess of R4.5 billion.
