Reports

The purpose of this development impact report is to provide our stakeholders with a transparent account of how we addressed the most material environmental management, social responsibility and corporate governance issues during FY2021. We have also included material issues that may extend beyond these dates.

Against an international backdrop of changing political and economic priorities, Africa must take charge of industrialisation to unlock the considerable potential the young, rapidly urbanising population and growing consumer class offers. Africa is the world’s second largest and second most populous continent. Economic growth across the continent continues to strengthen, reaching an estimated 3,5% in 2018, and is projected to accelerate to 4% in 2019 and 4,1% in 2020. According to the African Development Bank, the working-age population will rise from 705 million in 2018 to nearly 1 billion by 2030.

The PRI Reporting Framework is a key step in the journey towards building a common language and industry standard for reporting responsible investment (RI) activities. This RI Transparency Report is one of the key outputs of this Framework. Its primary objective is to enable signatory transparency on RI activities and facilitate dialogue between investors and their clients, beneficiaries and other stakeholders. A copy of this report will be publicly disclosed for all reporting signatories on the PRI website, ensuring accountability of the PRI Initiative and its signatories.

Against an international backdrop of changing political and economic priorities, Africa must take charge of industrialisation to unlock the considerable potential the young, rapidly urbanising population and growing consumer class offers. Africa is the world’s second largest and second most populous continent. Economic growth across the continent continues to strengthen, reaching an estimated 3,5% in 2018, and is projected to accelerate to 4% in 2019 and 4,1% in 2020. According to the African Development Bank, the working-age population will rise from 705 million in 2018 to nearly 1 billion by 2030.

Infrastructure development is the key catalyst for economic development on the African continent. Infrastructure transforms economies, strengthens their resilience and is crucial to eliminating poverty in Africa. Adequate infrastructure, together with industrialisation and innovation, are the foundations for economic competitiveness, which in turn underpins social and economic development.

This report covers the ESG performance of Harith and its original fund under management, PAIDF. The PAIDF 2, ARMHIIL, CIF, Progeny and TIMU are in the capital raising phase. Given the recency of the FMFML acquisition and the ongoing integration, this report does not feature detail on its performance. Going forward we will seek to include detail on all funds under management in this report.

Africa is on the move. Galvanised by the fundamental improvement in the macro-economic landscape and business environment, as well as in African political stability, African economies have accelerated to make the continent the second-fastest growing region in the world since the millennium. The age of unilateral aid to Africa in the form of credit and grants is over and the continent is ripe for investment-based partnerships, which are more sustainable.

We believe Africa is the last frontier of emerging markets with a superior risk:return ratio. Investment in infrastructure assets on the continent therefore goes a step further to providing investors with distinct exposure to a rare asset class. Currently the most significant constraint to growth in Africa is the lack of infrastructure, specifically in the energy, ICT, transport and water and sanitation sectors. The multiplier effect created by infrastructure development drives economic growth and upliftment, which makes infrastructure-focused private equity funds, like PAIDF, an ideal vehicle for fulfilling an impact investment mandate.

Harith believes in the considerable potential of the African continent. Africa has weathered the global economic downturn in superior fashion compared to Europe and the USA, and as the second largest continent on the globe in terms of area and population, is poised for exponential growth. Supporting this prospect are continually improving regulatory conditions and governance.