Sustainability
At Chapel Hill Denham, sustainability is at the heart of our business underpinning every decision we make. We focus on areas accretive to Africa’s and Nigeria’s economic and sustainable development. We do this mostly through infrastructure finance, green finance, gender lens investing as well as our service to the communities in which we operate.
We invest in companies driving measurable social and environmental impact alongside business performance and strong returns. With the ability to invest across a wide variety of sectors, Chapel Hill Denham has developed its expertise in the real assets sectors and SMEs, helping them grow their businesses and increasing their impact.
We believe that delivering measurable impact alongside commercial financial returns helps unlock more funding for Africa’s businesses. We measure our impact by:
Focusing on and managing investments with an ESG impact
Unlocking domestic capital markets enabling us to release captive capital to invest in Nigeria andAfrica’s future
Creating capital market structures that can address a wide pool of international investors and getting them to invest in the country and the continent’s future
Creating opportunities for women and youth by providing access to capital, capacity and relationships
Reducing Nigeria and Africa’s carbon footprint
Creating jobs
Why Africa
Far from being the ‘dark continent’, it is labelled as, Africa is vibrant, colourful and incredibly rich in people, resources and culture. It is the world’s second largest continent with a population of over 1.2 billion people and a landmass that surpasses the United States, China, India and Europe collectively.
Africa has one of the fastest-growing consumer markets in the world, with Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa as the continent’s consumer powerhouses. This growth in consumerism represents the amazing potential of the continent and it is estimated that there will be $5.6 trillion of business opportunities by 2025.
Whilst the consumer, telecommunications and banking, present the largest opportunities, there are also great prospects in other sectors including resources, agriculture and infrastructure.
By 2040, Africa’s workforce is projected to be larger than that of India or China and 1 in 5 of the world’s young people will be from the continent. By 2100, the working-age population according to the United Nations, will dwarf that of the whole of Asia. Whilst Europe is facing an ‘ageing dilemma,’ Africa’s population is increasingly youthful.
Africa’s young continent has eagerly embraced all things digital and technology; with the number of smartphone users currently over 444 million, and it is expected that by 2022 this number will increase to 636 million, more than double the projected number in North America.
According to Mckinsey and Co., “Global business leaders who misunderstand Africa run the risk of missing out on one of the 21st century’s great growth opportunities.”
We consider Africa to be the 21st century’s greatest growth opportunity. With Africa’s growing and young population, coupled with its rapid urbanisation rate, technological advances and burgeoning consumerism, the continent presents great opportunities to do business in.
Nigeria –
Our home
Nigeria, often referred to as the giant of Africa, with a vast landmass 3 times larger than Germany and population of over 200 million people, is set to become the world’s third largest population by 2050. Currently, Nigeria has the continent’s highest GDP and is ranked 28th in the world and could emerge as a top 20 economy by 2030.
Nigeria has an abundance of natural resources; having the largest natural gas reserves on the continent as well as tin, iron ore, coal, lead and zinc; it is also the largest exporter of crude oil, with oil receipts contributing over 90% of foreign exchange earnings. Nevertheless, the country’s economy is diversified with the real sector contributing over 23% to GDP.
Though Nigeria is renowned as a petroleum producing nation, it’s young and vibrant population is driving diverse and dynamic approaches to consumer demand, equally fueling the rapid growth in ecommerce. The country is also at the forefront of a technological revolution across the continent, which has been a major transformative force for Nigeria’s economy.
Currently, there are around 172 million mobile subscribers in Nigeria, with a mobile penetration rate of 87% (80% for Africa) and internet penetration rate of 56% (36% for Africa). With a young labour force and a strong entrepreneurship culture, Nigeria is poised to remain the driving force for Africa’s economy. Nigeria is also Africa’s largest single consumer market and projected to account for more than 15 percent of the growth in consumer spending by 2025.
Nigeria Today
- Largest Population in Africa, 200 million people
- Largest economy in Africa with a GDP of $400 billion
and ranked 28th in the world - More than half of total GDP of West Africa
- 2016-2050 growth rate forecast of 4.2%
- Rate of growth in working population,
greater than rate of growth in population - Largest producer of oil in Africa
Nigeria in 2050
- 3rd largest population behind India and China
- 14th largest country by GDP
- 25% of Africans will be Nigerian
- 40% of all babies born will be African
- 10% of all babies born will be Nigerian
- #1 consumer market on the continent
CSR
Chapel Hill Denham is committed to making a positive contribution to society and helping the communities in which we live and work. We leverage our resources, time and expertise to provide sustainable support to those communities, thus creating shared value for business and society. Our focus on gender, youth, education, healthcare and sports is a reflection of the firm’s core values.
By ensuring our CSR investment activity matches our skills and expertise, we bring more than financial contribution to the communities we operate in. We help empower the youth through education and sports, women with access to finance and mentorship, and families through health care. We partner with charities, community organisations, Non-Governmental Organisations and social enterprises, which are best-placed to understand local needs and implementation.
Employees in Action
Whether through mentoring or teaching, every employee has a key role to play in sharing their knowledge, time, talents and skills in their local community. We encourage our employees to volunteer resources available to them, especially through teaching. In addition, we are passionate about directly impacting through coaching about life skills, instilling discipline and ultimately developing leaders.
Sustainability Report
Coming Soon: View or download our latest sustainability report.