In Southern Africa, investors are usually accused of doing the equivalent of planting mango seeds in the desert and hoping for pineapples to grow.
Despite the region’s abundant resources, its entrepreneurial ecosystem still faces the same stubborn problems, which include energy insecurity, fragile food systems, and cities buckling under speedy urbanisation.
Over 570 million people in sub-Saharan Africa still lack access to reliable electricity, while food insecurity is estimated to affect more than 220 million people. But then, funding for solutions is scarce, scattered, and often too small to move the needle.
For Mythri Sambasivan-George, founding member and chairperson of Angel Network Botswana, the path forward is not to chase every idea that ‘looks’ good, but about pooling funds, minds, and willpower around themes that can change the future.
“Limited number of investors, with a limit on how much investable funds they have, thus, pooled or targeted thematic investments will help to truly catalyse a particular area,” she said in our conversation ahead of ABAN Congress 2025 in Lagos.
No, this is not an abstract argument, it is a pragmatic one. According to her, sector-driven or thematic investing gives angels the power to align resources with problems that matter most to the region.
“Each thematic area will have a different horizon for returns, like food security can be super high risk given changing diseases, changing climate, poor cold chain or logistics regionally, an imperfect market system with South Africa ‘controlling’ supply into chain stores. If we are able to pool investments, then the investments can be of a size that can be regionally relevant, and not just for local consumption,” she explained.
Pooling, she argued, is not just about money. “By pooling, you not only pool funds but also expertise, networks, mindset, and willpower. Everyone is pulling in the same direction, and thus can affect real change.”
Case Studies in Sector-Specific Impact
Southern Africa has already seen how thematic bets can work. Sambasivan-George points to Botswana as a test case. The government’s solar incentives, particularly net metering, have brought forth an industry with multiple grid-scale plants.
“In the coming 12 months, the Botswana power sector will see the impacts of all these plants coming online. Returns and impact are readily available and easy to justify with Solar,” she said.
Education is another. When Botswana liberalised its education sector in 2006 and allowed government-sponsored students into private institutions, it unlocked one of the fastest expansions in higher education enrolment in the region. “It catalysed provision and access, and also enabled some institutions to be regionally relevant,” she noted.
Most recently, Botswana’s SmartBots strategy has become a beacon for digital transformation. From a government-backed coding lab at the Botswana Digital & Innovation Hub (BDIH) to demo farms using drones and green tech for agriculture, the initiative shows how thematic focus can blend impact with commercial viability.
“They use drones and other highly scalable technologies to de-risk agricultural business, while driving a more sustainable business model through organic and value chain empowerment,” she said.
Similar drives are underway in South Africa, Namibia, and Zambia, showing a region beginning to pivot towards coordinated, theme-led innovation.
Identifying the Right Sectors
Still, thematic investing requires clear signals for where the growth lies. But regional disunity is a challenge. “With many African economies still not working together with their neighbours, everyone is competing with each other, thus wasting resources, and ultimately, no one is growing,” she stated.
For her, bodies like SADC should play a stronger role in promoting cross-border cooperation so investors can build companies that are regionally and globally competitive.
She believes ABAN’s role in coordinating opportunities across its nine networks in the South African economic block—from Angel Network Botswana and Namibia Business Angels Network to Jozi Angels and SABAN—is essential to this mission.
Partnerships as Catalysts
No single player can carry the weight of Southern Africa’s development. Thematic investments, she argued, need partnerships across three fronts: governments, development agencies, and private capital. “Healthcare, education, energy, and infrastructure. These 4 areas require a partnership approach at a regional level. This will enable the region to be more productive and more cohesive,” she said.
Governments, in her view, should stick to creating enabling environments with clear regulations. Development agencies must outline societal goals. Private investors then bring in the discipline of capital.
Balancing Profit and Development
There are usually worries that thematic investing might sacrifice returns for impact. Sambasivan-George sees this as a false trade-off. Transparency, accountability, and measurable impact can reconcile the two. “Transparency in deal-making—profit margins, quality metrics, production guarantees, wage expectations,” she listed, are non-negotiables.
She advocates for companies to set development milestones within clear frameworks, alongside some income guarantees to lower investment risk. Just as importantly, “SDG benchmark markers to be submitted as a part of companies’ annual reports” could make development gains as trackable as profits.
As Southern Africa prepares for the ABAN Congress 2025, Sambasivan-George’s says scattershot investing will not solve systemic problems, thematic investing will. Sustainability lies in collective, sector-driven bets that can match vision with scale.
And if investors can align not just their money but also their intentions, Southern Africa might just prove that Africa can, indeed, fund Africa.
