Agaciro Development Fund (AgDF) Rwanda’s sovereign wealth fund, has invested over USD 8 million in the capital stock of the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB), becoming its latest institutional shareholder.

Commenting on the development; TDB Group President Emeritus and Managing Director, Admassu Tadesse said: “We salute Agaciro Development Fund as the first sovereign wealth fund to invest in TDB Group equity capital.

This investment illustrates the growing interest and confidence of institutional investors in TDB’s opportunities. We are proud to be able to continue attracting and making African capital work for Africa’s development, while delivering competitive returns.”

Nyatanyi receiving a certificate given to shareholders of TDB.
Agaciro Development Fund Chief Executive Officer Gilbert Nyatanyi said that, since inception, Agaciro has principally been reliant on receiving voluntary contributions from Rwandans and friends of Rwanda.

"With the recent phasing out of the contributions Agaciro is rebalancing and diversifying its investments be it in terms of asset classes as geographically in order to further grow the fund with return on investments. Investing in TDB fits perfectly into this approach,” he noted.

In 2013, TDB introduced Class B shares to mobilize capital from institutional investors. This asset class has drawn a lot of interest from investors because of the Bank’s consistent capital growth, impact, and solid profit base.

TDB’s net asset value has grown to USD 13,846 as of 2021, at a 5-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 7%, and its dividend yield has averaged about 3% over the past 5 years. Since its inception, close to 258 million has been invested in the Class B shares by institutional investors.

The Bank’s shareholding comprises 23 member states, two non-regional members countries, and with Agaciro Development Fund,19 institutional shareholders.

TDB Group Executive Corporate Affairs and Investor Relations Mary Kamari said that it is an honor for TDB Group to welcome Agaciro Development Fund in its family of institutional shareholders.

"With this new investment, and with Rwanda as one of our founding member states, AgDF becomes our second Rwandan institutional shareholder after the Rwanda Social Security Board [RSSB] and we are proud of the sustained confidence in TDB Group to deliver results,” she stated.

Agaciro joins a group of 18 other institutional investors from Africa and the rest of the world, mainly Europe and Asia, which include pension funds, insurance companies, development finance institutions, special funds and now, a sovereign wealth fund.

With an estimate of over US$ 600 billion in pension fund assets in Africa, organizations like RSSB and Agaciro Development Fund have the opportunity to diversify their portfolios by investing in Class B shares.

As TDB expands its geographic footprint, it remains committed to providing innovative financing solutions, crowding in institutional capital and promoting integrated sustainable development for the region.

About TDB

Established in 1985, the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB) is a multilateral, treaty-based, investment-grade development finance institution, with 41 sovereign and institutional shareholders and assets of US$ 8 billion.

TDB serves 23 economies in its region, with the mandate to finance and foster trade, regional economic integration, and sustainable development through trade finance, project and infrastructure finance and asset management.

TDB is part of TDB Group, which also comprises the Trade and Development Fund (TDF), the Eastern and Southern African Trade Fund (ESATF), TDB Captive Insurance (TCI), and TDB Academy

About Agaciro Development Fund

As one of the many home-grown solutions playing a significant role in Rwanda’s transformation, Agaciro Development Fund (Agaciro), Rwanda Sovereign Wealth Fund, was born out of the Rwandans’ need to protect the country against economic shocks, to build savings for future generations and to accelerate socio-economic development. Agaciro was officially launched on 23 August 2012 by His Excellency Mr. Paul Kagame the President of the Republic of Rwanda.

Fully owned by the people of Rwanda and named “AGACIRO”, meaning dignity which was embraced as Rwanda’s key moral value in its journey towards sustainable socio-economic development, further summarised as “Prosperity for generations” - “Umurage w’ubukungu”, it started with approximately US$ 18,000,000 capital contributed by Rwandans and friends of Rwanda.

By the end of 2021, Agaciro has grown to approximately US$ 250,000,000, including fixed income investments (Treasury Bonds, corporate bonds, commercials papers, term deposits, …) and equity investments in 30 companies.

AE News