• Traditionally, an impact investor has been classified as an investor who is driven principally by the developmental, social and environmental impact / benefit that a particular project may have and to lesser extent on the quantum or certainty of financial returns – i.e. Traditional impact investors follow a strategy that actively seeks to make a positive impact by investing, for example, in projects that directly benefit the community or in clean-technology enterprises that benefit the environment, however where the possibility of achieving a financial return for investors is significantly less certain or predictable.
• Salt Capital challenges this traditional view and believes that impact investing has a broader definition which encompasses being able to deliver on both financial and pre-determined non-financial returns.
• In line with many modern-day impact investors, we share the view that impact investing refers to an investment strategy that has the intention to generate a beneficial and measurable social and/or environmental impact alongside a meaningful financial return.
• Salt Capital’s own definition of an impact investor is determined by affirmative responses to both of the following questions:
  • Does the investment result in measurable positive consequences?
  • Were these consequences intentional?
• Within the framework of the above definition, Salt Capital believes our investment approach falls within the impact investment classification.
• The Salt Capital Team firmly believes that any form of investment that does not consider and formulate specific impact goals during the investment decision making process and beyond, is irresponsible and unsustainable.

Yes.  Salt Capital has adopted a gender-smart strategy that is incorporated in our broader Investment Strategy. The objective of implementing the Gender-smart Investment Strategy at Salt Capital, is to achieve the following outcomes:

• To incorporate a gender lens within our investment strategy pertaining to target investments, with a sharpened focus on gender equality;
• To develop and define our own gender smart roadmap in order to further diversify and enhance our own business; and
• Define more accurately our Sustainable Development Goals on Gender Equality in our investment process, by specifically including it in our Investment Policy and Procedures.

The primary rationale for having a Gender-smart Investment Strategy is not only about what is fundamentally right, but it is also good business – it significantly enhances the commercial and social outcomes for all stakeholders. After all, women constitute more than half of the productive population. 

While reasonable progress has been made in narrowing the gender gap in certain of the larger western economies, progress has unfortunately been acutely more limited in Africa – which is due to a multitude of factors but is predominantly driven by high levels of poverty and historic gender bias and discrimination.

A copy of our Gender-Smart Investment Strategy is available on request.  

Salt Capital is not a sector-focused investor, although we have a strong history in food and beverages. We mainly focus on the African consumer but consider ourselves to be generalists and sector agnostic.

There are however certain sectors that we are more familiar with, which include:

• Food and beverages
• Inclusive financial services
• Healthcare
• Specialist technology

Salt Capital does not invest in:

• Primary resources, such as mining, oil and gas, etc
• Primary agriculture
• Real estate
• Infrastructure
• Greenfield or start-ups

The first close of the Salt Equity I fund was anchored by the following investors:

• International Finance Corporation (IFC) – the investment arm of the World Bank (www.ifc.org)
• Facilité d’Investissement et de Soutien aux Entreprises en Afrique (FISEA) – a fund managed by Proparco (www.proparco.fr/en)
• AfricaGrow, a fund domiciled in Germany and managed by Allianz Global Investors (africagrow.allianzgi.com)
• Family offices – the largest group of investors is a selection of family offices well-known to the Salt Capital individuals