Sanlam interview: “Africa’s growth is in the blue and green economy, and those are the jobs of the future”

Exclusive interview with Teboho Makhabane, Head of ESG and Impact at Sanlam Investments. At the next edition of Africa’s Green Economy Summit in February 2026, Sanlam Investments is returning as the title sponsor for the third year running.

 

Sanlam Investments is sponsoring Africa’s Green Economy Summit for the third year running. What drives this continued commitment?
We are excited to be sponsoring this event again. As Sanlam Investments, we believe that South Africa’s growth is in the blue and green economy, and those are the jobs of the future.  And to really kickstart and catalyse growth in the country, we need to be at the forefront of events like Africa’s Green Economy Summit.

 

What does this sponsorship represent beyond visibility? How does it align with Sanlam Investments’s ESG and impact investing priorities?
It’s so important because we’re not only sponsoring the event, but we also have products that speak specifically to green economy, such as a partnership with Climate Fund Managers which champions blended-finance for nature investments. These include investments in energy across the continent, addressing climate finance, as well as water, not just climate mitigation, but adaptation. That’s something we believe in, and it’s really at the heart of what this summit is about.

 

The G20 and B20 are placing increasing emphasis on sustainable finance and inclusive growth. How do you see Africa’s green economy fitting into these global conversations?
I think it’s so important that AGES engages in these conversations. It’s become clear, and you can tell from even G20 and B20 conversations, that we understand that economic development goes hand in hand with climate risk and how do we address climate action. So, it’s very important that in those conversations, that AGES is there too. We can address what it means for Africa.

We’re also in a good place where we’re still developing as a continent. And we can leapfrog some of this, where we can have these technologies which are green and also can help with energy. And we can just go straight to it.

 

You’ve spoken before about the importance of localisation in ESG. How does Sanlam bridge global frameworks like the UN SDGs and G20/B20 goals with Africa’s specific development needs?
Localisation is important. It’s important that Africa takes these global frameworks and localise it, take the guidelines, the templates, but ensure that they address lived experiences of Africans. We need to make sure they address the issues that Africans are experiencing.

And when we localise it, we can also make sure that the nuances and the financing speaks exactly to what African economies need at this time.

 

What role should institutional investors play in driving Africa’s green transition, and how is Sanlam Investments stepping up to that role?
Institutional investors play a very important role. They’re not just capital providers. They also shape parts of systems. Once they provide the capital, they really need to influence how businesses perform, how these solutions are addressing some of the key issues. They play a very, very important communication role. They also need to be present in policy discussions in changes in transitioning our economy and moving more to green. So, they are very important as more than just capital providers.

 

Can you share a recent or upcoming example of a Sanlam ESG or impact investment that embodies the principles being discussed at this summit?
Currently we’re looking at the blue economy. We believe that’s very important. There are also huge opportunities there, not just from climate mitigation perspective, but jobs. Our focus now is to direct capital around coastal regions in South Africa; we have quite a long coastline along KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape and coastal communities such as the fishery community. Much more investment can be put in there in small scale fishing. And we’re currently looking at a fund that addresses just that and invest in small-scale fishing, providing for their needs, whether it’s addressing the issue they have with post-harvest loss or supply chains into other markets once they have their catch.

 

If you could fast forward to 2030, what kind of green economy impact would you hope Sanlam Investments has helped make possible – both in South Africa and across the continent?
As Sanlam Investments, what we want to see in 2030, is to make sure that so much of our capital was directed towards the green economy, towards green projects. We want to look back and say we catalysed so many of our investments. Not only have we allocated a huge percentage of our AUM towards these projects, we’ve also been able to bring more investors into the green economy and we really did play a huge role in crowding in more players into the green economy.

 

You’ve now been part of this summit twice – why does 2026 feel different, and what are you looking forward to as outcomes?
I think we’ve come to understand that Africa should not just be recipients of capital, but also, more importantly, they should also be leading the solutions. There are green solutions using local capital, but also investing in creating the solutions, driving the whole chain from solutioning, designing and investing.

In that way, we can really address what is key to African problems and make sure that we localise even the frameworks or how we measure success, whether from an impact perspective or return.