The A Perspective Podcast: Andrew Skipper talks to Geetha Tharmaratnam

In this episode, Andrew turns to Geetha Tharmaratnam, CEO of Aequalitas Capital Partners and leader of their Impact Investment practice. Geetha is an investment executive with more than 19 years of experience in Private Equity, venture capital, development finance, impact investing, and insurance in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe. She has had a focus on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), gender lens-investing, healthcare, and financial services. As senior investment advisor to the UN Economic Commission for Africa, she has also developed a fund of funds to invest in female African Investors.

Join them as they discuss what “impact” funding means. what responsibilities it brings to fund managers, and why is it the right approach for investors in Africa. They also confer about the role of international investment and in particular the role of the international community, whether through government, DFI’s and multilaterals as well as the need to create a more diverse environment in business on the continent and how the ECA African Women Investors Training Programme, launched in May 2021, is a significant step in the right direction. Geetha animates this insightful conversation and uses her love for numbers to give us a look into the steps that need to be taken to support and promote SMEs, the key factors which will drive investment in the next year, and the sectors she sees as most likely to thrive.