A policy push in Accra is reshaping who finances growth companies in West Africa, as a new wave of financial intermediaries positions itself between Ghana’s pension assets and private markets.

At the centre of this shift is the Ci Gaba Fund of Funds, a Ghana-domiciled vehicle that has reached a GHS 383m ($35m) first close. Managed by Savannah Impact Advisory and targeting a final size of GHS 1bn ($91m), Ci Gaba is the first private fund of funds domiciled in West Africa.

Its mandate is straightforward: channel domestic institutional capital into private equity, venture capital, and private debt funds backing SMEs across Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, and Côte d’Ivoire. 

The first close is anchored by FSD Africa Investments (FSDAi), Small Foundation, Stanbic Investment Management Services — with participation from pension funds via its corporate trustees, including AXIS Pension Trust and Enterprise Trustees — and CAL Asset Management Company. The fund is also supported by the Dutch development bank FMO.

Crucially, Ghanaian pension funds account for more than two-thirds of these early commitments, signaling a tangible shift in how domestic institutions deploy capital.

The timing of Ci Gaba’s launch is no accident. In 2025, Ghana’s government signalled a decisive policy shift under the Ghana Venture Capital and Private Equity Compact: pension and insurance funds are expected to allocate at least 5% of their assets under management (AUM) to venture capital and private equity by 2026.

The contrast with the status quo is stark. While regulations theoretically allow pension schemes to allocate up to 25% to alternative assets, actual exposure has hovered below 1%. Portfolios remain heavily concentrated in government securities.

With total pension assets projected to surpass GHS 100bn (~$8.3bn) by the end of 2025, a fully realised 5% mandate could unlock roughly $330m in patient capital for local firms in high-growth sectors like fintech, agribusiness, and clean energy.

For pension trustees, this directive creates an operational headache. Most local schemes lack the in-house capacity to underwrite VC and PE managers, handle currency risk, or structure governance for illiquid assets.

Vehicles like Ci Gaba are structured to bridge this gap. By operating as a fund of funds, it absorbs the manager selection risk, investing across a diversified portfolio of underlying funds. 

Yet, the transition is unlikely to be frictionless. Pension funds are inherently conservative, and trustees are being pushed into higher-risk, illiquid assets while still bruised by domestic debt restructuring and cedi volatility.

For now, Accra’s structural experiment has created a clear trend: institutional investors are being steered toward private markets, and specialist platforms are lining up to absorb the flow. If vehicles like Ci Gaba can demonstrate that local pension money can be deployed into private markets with acceptable governance and returns, the model will likely spread beyond Ghana.

The true test will not be the fund’s first close, but whether this redirected retirement savings pool can eventually deliver the promised blend of commercial returns and local industrial growth.