Ward 2 Development Forum

Aluwani Capital Partners

Properties3
descriptionA black-owned South African asset manager. It invested R350 million of its clients' money in the Cape Water bond, the largest South African stake, and calls water "an increasingly scarce and mispriced resource".
tagstheme/water, theme/environment, lang/en
aliasesALUWANI, Aluwani

6 min read

For Aluwani Capital Partners to review

Aluwani Capital Partners has not yet seen this page. It describes the organisation only through what it has said or done, and through what others named here have said about it. The Forum has not approached Aluwani Capital Partners about anything. Until Aluwani Capital Partners has approved the text, it may change. Questions for Aluwani Capital Partners:

  1. Is this description of Aluwani and its investment in the Cape Water bond correct? What would you like to change?
  2. Through which fund or client mandate did Aluwani invest in the bond?
  3. Please confirm the spelling of your Co-Head of Credit’s surname, which appears as both Jaglal and Jagalal.
  4. Should readers reach you through the moderators, or through a public contact?

Aluwani Capital Partners is a South African asset manager that describes itself as black-owned and controlled, with R169.3 billion under management at 30 June 2026 [MS]. It invested R350 million in the Cape Water Performance-Based Bond [IC]. The JSE names it as one of three co-anchor investors, with the International Finance Corporation and FSD Africa Investments [MS]. FSD Africa describes it as having “led local institutional participation” [MS].

What the letters in square brackets mean

Facts on this page are followed by a tag that shows where they come from.

  • [IC] Independently Corroborated. Confirmed by an official record, such as a government notice or a court or council record, or by at least two sources that do not depend on each other.
  • [MS] Mission-Sourced. Comes from the organisation’s own website or statements, from the statements of a group it works with, or from the Forum’s own records. It has not been checked against sources that do not depend on them.
  • [TBV] To Be Verified. Seems likely, but nobody has confirmed it from a reliable source yet.

At a glance

KindSpecialist firm
Based inSouth Africa [MS]
Websitealuwani.com
RoleCo-anchor investor, R350 million of notes [IC]
Link to the valleyIndirect. The bond is linked to clearing in the catchments of the water supply system whose largest dam lies upstream of the valley
Contact with the ForumNot approached

What it does

Aluwani was formed in November 2015 from part of Momentum Asset Management’s institutional business, with R62 billion in assets [MS]. In 2022 its management agreed to buy out Momentum’s remaining stake and its empowerment partners [MS]. It is an authorised financial services provider and manages money for institutional and individual clients [MS]. Its ESG policy endorses the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment and the Code for Responsible Investing in South Africa [MS].

How its work reaches the valley

What Aluwani put in. Aluwani invested R350 million [IC], the largest disclosed South African stake in the bond. Its own 2026 Stewardship Report confirms the investment and does not give the amount [MS].

Why Aluwani says it invested. Its Co-Head of Credit said: “Water is an increasingly scarce and mispriced resource. Our investment in the Cape water performance-based bond reflects a deliberate commitment to investing in water” [MS]. She said this means investing “not only in infrastructure such as pipes and dams, but in the ecosystems that sustain supply” [MS]. “By unlocking additional water yield at a fraction of the cost of traditional infrastructure, we are delivering measurable environmental and social impact, in line with our responsibility as stewards of capital” [MS].

Aluwani’s 2026 Stewardship Report calls the investment “a deliberate effort to allocate capital to this underpenetrated segment”, and says water is “relatively underrepresented in capital markets” [MS]. It says “the structure directly links financial returns to verified ecological outcomes”, and that “Investors provide upfront funding and assume execution risk” [MS].

What FirstRand says about Aluwani. FirstRand’s Group Treasurer credited the “strong support and early commitment” of Aluwani with helping complete the sale of the bond [MS].

How the bond works. FirstRand Bank issued one R2.5 billion senior unsecured note, arranged by Rand Merchant Bank, and listed it on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on 17 April 2026 [IC]. Noteholders earn a base return plus a success premium [MS]. The premium is paid by outcome funders, led by the FirstRand Foundation, only when independently checked clearing of invasive plants is achieved [MS]. Conservation Alpha checks the results, and The Nature Conservancy South Africa does the clearing through the Greater Cape Town Water Fund [MS]. The JSE, FSD Africa, and IFC all describe the co-anchors as buyers of the notes, separate from the outcome funders [IC].

Where it touches this site

What is still open

  • The bond’s coupon, the size of the success premium, the clearing targets, and the maturity date, which are in the listing documents and not yet read for this page.
  • What happens to noteholders if the clearing targets are missed. FSD Africa describes a base return plus a premium; Business Day and Aluwani describe investors carrying some of the risk.
  • Which Aluwani fund or client mandate holds the bond.

Have your say

If you know more about Aluwani Capital Partners’s work in the valley, contact the moderators via How to Submit.

References

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