Venture capital fund aims to boost entrepreneurship in Alex

With unemployment skyrocketing in Joburg, a venture capital fund in Sandton is affording start-ups and nascent entrepreneurs with high growth potential a platform to get their enterprises off the ground.

Geared towards residents of Alexandra, the venture capital fund, dubbed Impact Investment Africa, seeks to support social and environmental enterprises to help them secure measurable economic outcomes.

Its Executive Chairman, Chris Hart, hopes to build Impact Investment Africa into a formidable venture capital fund.

“I am hoping that we can get a strong, robust investment fund that will support entrepreneurs or budding entrepreneurs within Alex to get their enterprises off the ground and remain sustainable.”

Hart says entrepreneurs in Alexandra were targeted by automobile manufacturer Ford as potential beneficiaries of the fund because of the township’s proximity to Sandton.

“Our philosophy is simple, if we cannot create financial boosts for township businesses, we are irrelevant in Africa,” he adds.

He says Impact Investment Africa receives capital from various businesses in Sandton, which are pitched towards closing the inequality gap between the two areas.

“We want to make sure that people who work in Sandton and who built Sandton enjoy the same benefits as those who live here,” he says.

Hart says there is a symbiotic relationship between the business community in Sandton and entrepreneurs in Alexandra. “This is not an obligation, but there is a strong and compelling case for the business community of Sandton that Alex is part of us and the standards here should also be reflected there,” he says.

The Executive Mayor, Cllr Mpho Phalatse, has committed her administration to rebuild Alexandra to enable Joburg’s oldest township to be economically active.

Cllr Phalatse says partnerships with the private sector are the hallmarks of the success of her administration. “Especially where interests intersect, because the truth is that government at all levels cannot build South Africa on its own.”

Hart acknowledges that developing sustainable entrepreneurship in Alexandra requires plenty of work.

“It’s a case of capacity. What Impact Investment Africa can do versus what needs to be done? Some resources and coalitions need to be built, and with the pandemic in the picture, things are not as smooth as we expected.”

He calls on community leaders to avail themselves to help the project become a success. “We need trustworthy people who will manage the fund and take care of the resources bought in to help the community.”

The Mayor believes through private sector involvement, Alexandra will rise. “There have been many unsuccessful attempts over the last 110 years to reduce Alexandra to rubble, but today we commit to building a community and a partnership that will stand for another 110 years, where we will be able to tell a story of its success as we move away from its story of sorrow,” says Cllr Phalatse.

Written by Gontse ‘GeE’ Hlophe
16/03/2022