The Africa Impact Investing Group (AIIG) has appointed Etemore Glover as its pioneer chief executive officer as the organisation seeks to mobilise more capital for African businesses and strengthen investment ecosystems across the continent.
Glover’s appointment marks the transition of the organisation from a collaborative network of national impact investing bodies into a continental platform with dedicated executive leadership, according to a statement by AIIG.
Impact investing involves directing capital towards businesses and projects that generate measurable social or environmental benefits alongside financial returns.
As chief executive, Glover will lead the organisation’s strategy to expand investor participation, improve the pipeline of investment-ready businesses and strengthen the adoption of impact measurement standards across African markets.
Her priorities will centre on building institutional capacity, mobilising domestic and international capital, and influencing policies to incorporate impact investing into national and continental development strategies.
AIIG, a regional partner of GSG Impact, brings together impact investing ecosystem builders from Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Zambia.
Since its launch in Cape Town, South Africa, in July 2023, the group has organised four Africa Impact Summits, attracting more than 1,400 delegates, and hosted four deal rooms involving 49 impact funds. These deal rooms connected investors with 589 African enterprises, according to the organisation.
Its members have also piloted initiatives including the $75 million Ci-Gaba Fund of Funds, the Zambia Small Business Initiative and the Nigeria Wholesale Impact Investment Fund.
The organisation is currently leading what it describes as Africa’s first continent-wide impact investing market-sizing study, aimed at standardising research methodologies and improving regional investment data.
Elias Masilela, chairman of AIIG, said Glover’s experience in building institutions, mobilising capital and advocating impact-oriented policies aligned with the organisation’s strategy.
“We are confident that under Etemore’s leadership, AIIG will accelerate positive economic and social transformation across Africa,” Masilela said.
Glover said her experience in Nigeria had shown that impact investing required more than investment commitments, pointing to the need for effective institutions, sound policies and capital that reaches businesses.
“AIIG exists to do that at a continental scale. Together with our partners, we will strengthen national ecosystems, mobilise more African and international capital towards measurable outcomes, and help build impact economies that are African-led and locally owned,” she said.
Before joining AIIG, Glover spent seven years as the pioneer chief executive of Nigeria’s Impact Investors Foundation, where she helped develop the country’s impact investing ecosystem.
She previously held corporate and investment banking roles at FBN Merchant Bankers Limited and Zenith Bank Plc. She is also an SDG Impact Standards consultant.
Her appointment comes as AIIG seeks to deepen collaboration among national investment ecosystem builders and expand financing channels for businesses addressing Africa’s social and environmental challenges.
The group said it would continue to coordinate continental research, convene the Africa Impact Summit and advance regional financing initiatives to direct investment towards development priorities.
Wasiu Alli is a business, economics cum data journalist with strong expertise covering macro trends, capital markets, government policies, corporate earnings and comparative economics analysis. Alli turns raw data into trends that not only tells compelling stories but nudges investors to make valued and informed decisions. He’s an alumnus of Lagos State University and trained at Lagos Business School. He formerly heads the Companies and Markets desk at BusinessDay where he writes and supervises the production of well researched articles on earnings updates, corporate sectoral comparisons, market intelligence as well as interviews with C-suite executives.
