About Us

The ThirdWay Africa Rural Development Corporation is a private equity business targeting commercial returns and social & environmental impact

The investment holding company is owned by family offices from Portugal, Mozambique, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Europe and the USA

Our philosophy

We believe above all else that inclusive and sustainable businesses are key to unlocking Africa’s vast potential. Our years of experience developing businesses in Africa have built a belief within the team that investments need to be holistic, in balance with the whole Ecosystem, and transformative for the rural communities in which they are based. More than anywhere else in the world there are resources in Africa to fund education, wellness (preventative health & healthcare) and infrastructure. We therefore align these sources of funding to mitigate risk for the investor, creating truly investable opportunities that result in catalytic change for people and have significant positive social and environmental impact.

 

It’s going to take something from each of us, too, and perhaps especially from those who happen to be the momentary winners of this cycle in the game. We need to peel our eyes away from the mirror of our own success and think about what we can do in our everyday lives for the people who aren’t our neighbours. We should be fighting for opportunities for other people’s children as if the future of our own children depended on it. It probably does.

– Matthew Stewart, The Atlantic

Diversified

Realizing interdependency between development factors such as water, energy, food, health, education, gender, and economic growth

De-risked

Optimal growing conditions,increasing demand for rural goods, decreasing costs to international trade, improved access to global supply-chains, renewable energy solutions and IT-enabled services more easily accessible

Sustainable

Environmental and social management structures delivering best practice, impact evaluation and preservation of natural capital

Commercial Return

Leveraging development capital, grants and philanthropic funds to achieve risk-adjusted returns for private investors

We leverage four impact pillars to trigger sustainable, multi-generational impact

In order to improve the holistic economic, social and cultural conditions of low-income rural communities, our impact focus is on the delivery of improvements to livelihoods, education, wellness and climate resilience capacity

Livelihoods

Job creation, local economic development and access to basic services (e.g. electricity, water & financial services)

Education

Appropriate skills development, peer-to-peer educator programmes, and building schools for the local community

Wellness

Preventative health and healthcare services, including nutrition/hygiene programmes and disease treatment

Climate Resistance

Providing sustainable land management & conservation techniques, including clean water & renewable energy

We create opportunities in rural areas to break the poverty trap

Creating jobs, assisting smallholder farmers, providing communities with electricity for entrepreneurial growth, clean water and medial outreach to provide families with robust health and resilience

Feel free to get in touch if you’d like to know more about how we want to help seed the transformation of rural communities