Eastern and Southern African Trade Fund (ESATF) is an established investment fund open to subscriptions from August 2019. ESATF has been established as an open-ended collective investment scheme with a base currency in USD and both USD and EUR share classes.

ESATF is a limited liability company and has been granted a Category 1 Global Business Licence (C1/GBL, Company No 128792) under Section 72(6) of the Financial Services Act and is also licensed as a collective investment scheme (expert fund) under section 97 of the Securities Act 2005 and underlying securities regulations.

Domiciled in Mauritius, ESATF aims to provide trade finance to exporters and importers in the Tripartite Region while delivering secure and stable investment returns to its investors, uncorrelated with returns on mainstream asset classes.

ESATF focuses on fostering positive and measurable social, environmental and developmental impact objectives, a focused investment strategy using specialist knowledge and experience. As such, ESATF is intended to appeal to a wide spectrum of global investors who will be attracted by the dual objectives of steady returns and fostering development in some of the fastest-growing economies in the world.

The financing transactions invested in by ESATF are intended to have an aggregate weighted average maturity (or average life) of less than two years and generally to be held to maturity. ESATF intends to generate returns to investors in the range of USD 1-month Term SOFR + 3-5% per annum after all fees and expenses.

ESATF stands to benefit from Mauritius’ extensive network of tax treaties with countries in the Tripartite Region (for more information on Mauritius’ Double Taxation Agreements please click here). Under certain circumstances, trade finance and other loans made by ESATF may also benefit from the Bank’s preferred creditor status in its member states.