The Ci Gaba Fund of Funds has reached a first close of GHS 383 million (USD 38 million), making it West Africa's first domestically domiciled private fund of funds.
Ghanaian pension funds account for more than two-thirds of the committed capital.
The fund, announced on March 30, will channel local institutional money into private equity, venture capital, and private debt vehicles that back small and medium enterprises across Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, and Cote d'Ivoire.
It is structured to sit within Ghana's regulatory framework, meaning pension trustees can count allocations toward their domestic alternative investment requirements.
That requirement matters now more than before.
The National Pensions Regulatory Authority directive mandating that pension funds commit at least 5 percent of assets under management to domestic PE and VC is in effect.
With over GHS 72 billion in total pension deposits nationally, the directive opens a theoretical pool of GHS 3.6 billion for alternative asset managers. Ci Gaba positions itself as the most direct pipeline between that mandate and fund managers operating in the region.
"The fund addresses a structural gap," Ci Gaba's lead partner said at the announcement. "Pension trustees want exposure to alternatives but lack the internal capacity to evaluate individual fund managers. A fund of funds solves that."
For the PE and VC managers who receive allocations, the signal is clear: domestic institutional capital is arriving, and it comes with expectations around governance, reporting, and returns that match pension fund standards. Fund managers accustomed to DFI cheques and foreign LP terms will need to adjust.
The first close also tests whether Ghana's capital markets infrastructure can handle the complexity of a multi-layered fund structure domiciled locally. Custody, valuation, and regulatory reporting will all run through local service providers.
Ci Gaba is targeting a final close later in 2026, though the size has not been disclosed.
The composition of the first close suggests the final figure will depend heavily on whether more pension funds move before the NPRA begins enforcement reviews.
