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Did Ecobank Grow Too Fast?
Africa largest money manager, PIC has 1.4 trillion rand ($130 billion) in assets under management and invests on behalf of public sector employees. Its top client is the South Africa-based Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), the continent’s largest.
PIC is mandated to invest up to 5 percent of GEPF assets in other African countries, which Masilela said would generate new business for local companies and reduce unemployment, while helping the rest of the continent to grow. However, he said some South Africans are still skeptical of PIC. Some want it to focus on the investment needed at home in South Africa.
So far, the PIC had deployed half of the mandated 5 percent allocation in the rest of the continent, focusing on private equity, infrastructure and property investments, given the relatively small and illiquid markets outside South Africa, Masilela told Reuters. “If you look at the capitalization of stock markets across the continent put together, they will account for less than 20 percent of the JSE (Johannesburg Stock Exchange),” he said. “That says to us you can’t rely on listed investments.”
Source: The Africa Report
