Policy & regulatory development to catalyse larger uptake of private equity and private debt investments by pension funds in SADC.
The primary objective of this study was to review the status quo, understand opportunities and challenges and make recommendations for policy and regulatory development to enable the benefit from the returns and diversification of pension funds in Southern Africa.
We commissioned this research in partnership with the Southern African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (SAVCA), and the findings presented are drawn from questionnaires conducted with 52 funds in eight countries including Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. These funds represent about $160 billion in assets under management (AUM), which translates to 30% coverage of the full AUM of funds in the region. This was complemented by interviews with regulators, pension fund leaders and other experts to collect more specific data and to contextualise the findings.
Overall, this study paints a picture of a very diverse set of markets in the region with unique challenges, and we aim to strike a balance between providing regional insights with specific issues and opportunities in each market for positive reforms.
