The Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) has identified pan-African real estate company Grit’s development subsidiary, Gateway Real Estate Africa (GREA), as a strategic platform for its rest-of-Africa real estate investments.
In addition, the GEPF, represented by the Public Investment Corporation of South Africa (PIC), have injected $48.5 million (R879.9 million) of cash equity as part of a $100m recapitalisation of GREA, and have appointed Zwethu Msindo as a representative to GREA’s board, a statement said yesterday.
Msindo also serves as an employee-nominated trustee on the GEPF board and the Chairperson of the Advisory Board, in addition to being a member of the Investment Committee, Valuations Subcommittee and the Benefit and Administration Committee.
“GREA’s consistent performance since inception in 2018 has been recognised by the GEPF as a strategic platform for its rest of Africa real estate investments,” said Grit CEO Bronwyn Knight.
“Their commitment through the $48.5m recapitalisation will accelerate our Grit 2.0 strategy considerably, expediting the formation of sector-specific sub-structures that are higher-yielding, more resilient, and with greater social impact, while earning development margins north of 10%.”
She said the $48.5m investment will initially be used to reduce the group’s more expensive debt before being deployed by GREA, into development projects that were expected to accelerate net asset value and income growth, as well as ESG impact as envisaged under the Grit 2.0 strategy.
In terms of this, Grit has simplified its structure of assets into four sectors, including Bora Africa, which houses its light industrial, data centres, logistics, and warehouse assets, DH Africa, which houses its corporate and diplomatic accommodation portfolio, Healthcare Impact Africa for healthcare assets, and Office Park Africa, for the office portfolio.
“GREA’s pipeline opportunities include a further diplomatic housing development for the United States Bureau of Overseas Building Operations, and a second BPO centre in Nairobi, Kenya, on behalf of CCI Global,” said Knight.
These portfolios would continue to focus on hard-currency leases and global or multinational tenants that provide significant employment opportunities on the continent, she said.
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