Book the dates for the next PIA conference in Mauritius. After being back with a bang following three years of lull in a post-COVID era, the sixth edition of the Pension Funds & Alternative Investment Africa will hit the local shores on March 15-16, 2023. The announcement was made on the last session following the culmination of the two days forum based on the theme, Outlook debate where the event was hosted by PIA and AME Trade.
As the session ended with tiring faces, a sense of fulfillment crept among organizers, speakers, panellists, and guests swarming into hordes at the event held at ITC Balaclava on July 14-15, 2022. Thursday morning, July 14 witnessed familiar faces at the venue, perhaps we may have missed as a result of the pandemic and lockdown bringing to a halt the coveted event yet there was no stopping anyone who didn’t want to miss the event, bristling with childlike enthusiasm and eye twinkling with hope and excitement.
It didn’t take long for the dice to start rolling in the wintery and chilly morning, surrounded by sea waves as Master of Ceremony and Managing Director at Ametrade Mahad Ahmed hit the cudgel with the welcome address.
On the other hand, Minister of Financial Services and Good Governance Mr. Mahen Seeruttun at the outset remarked that the conference augurs well in the context of the unflinching IFC as a capital raising and investment platform to help advance the Mauritius core Africa strategy by the Government in the aftermath of the COVID crisis and the war while emphasizing on the challenging environment accentuated by the low rate of interest.
He was in to brew a storm in the fresh mind of the audience, asking, “Where do we go from here to fetch good returns?” The Minister made a pitch, “The need to create a more sustainable investment while we are working on an ESG framework to lend comfort to investors with funds channeled to Africa by undertaking responsible investment.”
Isn’t what is on the lip of everyone, the dire need for ESG, sustainable and responsible investment to be entrenched into the economy deemed as a sine qua non for businesses and investment? Day One set the stage where discussions hovered on the need to “Navigating the recovery-Allocating to Alternatives for Higher Returns”, the subject of the first-panel discussion hosted by Robin Mardemootoo of Denton Mauritius where speakers of the ilk of Executive Director Financial Services for AFC Sanjeev Gupta made a passionate plea for Africa.
He remarked: “A profound period in the history of Africa where the future has to bind us together to manage our own affairs in the last few years…Why there is a lack of investment on the continent.”
Gupta didn’t mince words telling: “The need to invest in the long-term future of the continent offers investment opportunity in Africa’s industrial development, leveraging value-added industries, investment in infrastructure makes sense. Raising the money is not the problem but deploying is.”
As Managing Director at ASBA Mauritius Ravin Dajee remarked in the earlier part of the conference, that there are some issues currently faced on perception coupled with industry challenges laden with inflation, interest rate, skills gap as well as geography. He enumerated: “The risks in Africa can be attributed to a depreciating currency chasing high returns with private assets while the conference helps to Mauritius to pose itself as a corridor for investment on the continent where it can play a bigger role to discuss funding gap and decreasing returns.”
Day 2, Friday, July 15 took off where Day One left with discussions on the topic of “Strengthening Fund Governance-Best Practice Tools, Strategies and Technology for Pension Funds and Alternative Investment” setting the tone with the Head of Client and Legal and Administration at Trust QCore Dr. Ronel Williams offering insights on the role of fiduciary set against the historical context emphasizing: “Pension fund trustee or any trustee for that matter involves fiduciary duty with imbibed skills coupled with the fact that capacity diligence and prudence is not the domain of an average person that must rise above the commoner. Traditionally, trust is seen as conservative because the trustee is investing on behalf of the client but what is of interest is the fact of growing trend pertaining to ESG investment. The latter must be taken into account by trustees set against the context of the EU deeming that ESG issue is of prime importance.”
Capital markets remain an important component of the conference where discussion hinged on instruments and trading conditions, with the Head of Fixed Income and Currencies at MCB Capital Markets, Abhimanyu Yadav remarking that liquidity is relative and not on absolute terms. He emphasized: “There have been lots of asset classes such as Private Equity Funds and private credit where these bonds can trade anywhere with South Africa on very liquid terms where secondary market is not very significant. Still, it is very significant in South Africa.”
He emphasized the fact that the launch of ETF has played a part in democratizing the asset class, referring to the fact that one share is pegged at USD 10 in Mauritius where it helps to guarantee liquidity, wherein listed on the local shores in terms of dollars. Yadav culminated his rich expose by insisting on the fact that the perception of risks as opposed to the reality of risks relies on knowledge and education.
As the Pension fund and alternative investment drew to an end, outlook discussion debated as to whether Pension Fund has a future, moderated by Sanjeev Gupta. Director of Investment at the National Pension Fund Mauritius Veenay Rambrassah opines: “The purpose is to save for the future in terms of investment relying on yield, returns and whether it will be sustainable to pay as retirement is reached.”
As the conference draws to an end, the local representative of AME Trade and Communications C, Cora Ng Korimbocus expressed satisfaction with the event’s success. “It’s an honour that Mauritius is chosen again and again as the IFC of choice to welcome such high profile reputed conference. As the local representative of AME Trade, Communications C is delighted to partner with AME Trade Team for the fifth consecutive year on PIAfrica in Mauritius and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of discussions, presentations, and high caliber of professionals of the industry spanning across Africa and Mauritius.”
