WWF South Africa signs MOU with Aséli Impact Capital
South Africa’s transition to a greener economy will depend on more than renewable energy projects and climate commitments. It will require businesses capable of developing the technologies, services and industrial solutions that support a more sustainable economy. Helping those businesses succeed will depend on whether they have access to the right combination of long-term capital, commercial expertise and strategic partnerships.
This thinking sits behind a new MOU between Savant and WWFthrough Aséli Impact Capital. The agreement brings together Savant’s experience in venture building and investment with WWF’s decades of work in conservation, sustainable finance and market transformation to support businesses creating commercially viable solutions to environmental challenges.
For many years, WWF has worked with financial institutions, investors and policymakers to encourage capital flows towards more sustainable economic activity. Through Aséli, that experience will connect directly with entrepreneurs building businesses that improve the way energy is generated, water is managed, waste is reduced, food is produced and industry operates.
These businesses have the potential to do far more than address environmental challenges. As they grow, they can create skilled employment, strengthen local supply chains and establish new industries that contribute to South Africa’s long-term competitiveness. Realising that potential requires more than investment alone. It requires partners who understand both the commercial realities of building businesses and the broader environmental and economic systems in which they operate.
Aséli has been designed to provide that long-term perspective. Structured as a permanent capital vehicle, it reinvests returns into future businesses, creating an enduring source of capital rather than a once-off investment fund. The addition of WWF strengthens this model by combining patient investment with deep environmental insight, helping ensure that commercial success and positive environmental outcomes reinforce one another.
This new working relationship also creates opportunities to bring investors, funders and entrepreneurs into closer conversation. As more businesses demonstrate what is commercially possible, they can help shape better financing approaches, identify where capital can have the greatest impact and build a stronger understanding of what successful green enterprise looks like in South Africa.
South Africa’s green transition will ultimately be measured not only by the emissions it reduces, but by the businesses it builds, the industries it strengthens and the economic opportunities it creates. WWF and Savant have a shared belief that achieving those outcomes will require patient capital, informed approaches and long-term commitment to the businesses capable of delivering them.
“South Africa’s transition to a greener economy will depend on businesses that can turn environmental challenges into practical, scalable solutions. Through WWF, Savant and Aseli working together, we can create a mechanism to support those businesses with the capital, insight and relationships they need to grow,” says Cerin Maduray, Sustainable Finance at WWF South Africa .
This new working relationship also creates opportunities to bring investors, funders and entrepreneurs into closer conversation. As more businesses demonstrate what is commercially possible, they can help shape better financing approaches, identify where capital can have the greatest impact and build a stronger understanding of what successful green enterprise looks like in South Africa.
South Africa’s green transition will ultimately be measured not only by the emissions it reduces, but by the businesses it builds, the industries it strengthens and the economic opportunities it creates. WWF and Savant have a shared belief that achieving those outcomes will require patient capital, informed approaches and long-term commitment to the businesses capable of delivering them.