Tshepo Mahloele: South African tycoon behind $3 billion pan-African investment firm

In African infrastructure finance, few executives have built as steadily, and as quietly, as Tshepo Mahloele. Known for keeping a low public profile, the South African businessman has spent decades structuring deals, backing essential assets and drawing in global capital, leaving a record that speaks more through projects than headlines. Today, he leads Harith General Partners, a firm with more than $3 billion in assets under management, focused on energy, transport, digital infrastructure, water, sanitation and public health across the continent.

Mahloele’s influence can be traced in part to his role as one of the originators of the $630 million Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund (PAIDF), a vehicle designed to channel private equity into infrastructure projects across Africa. The fund, launched in 2007 with support from the African Development Bank Group, marked a shift in how long-term capital could be deployed into power, telecommunications and transport. It also laid the groundwork for Harith’s expansion into one of the continent’s most established infrastructure investors.

From township roots to finance leadership

Born in 1967 in Mamelodi, Mahloele’s early exposure to business came from close range. His father ran an informal enterprise in the township, an experience that shaped his interest in commerce. He attended primary school in Mamelodi before moving to Cape Town for high school, and later earned a BProc degree from Rhodes University in 1988.

His early career moved quickly from legal training into finance, beginning with a stint at a brewery and then at the National Sorghum Breweries before a defining turn at Rand Merchant Bank. There, as part of its management program, he worked in corporate finance and credit, focusing on privatization and helping shape the bank’s Black Economic Empowerment strategy.

His time at the Commonwealth Development Corporation added an international dimension. As an investment executive, he oversaw more than R700 million ($43.3 million) in annual investments in South Africa, gaining experience in infrastructure funding and development finance. But his path was not without setbacks.

From failed startup to $804 million success

At 27, he stepped away from institutional finance to acquire a furniture business for R10 million ($0.62 million), financed through debt at interest rates that climbed from about 16–17 percent to as high as 18–19 percent. With borrowing costs eventually reaching about 25 percent monthly, the business collapsed under the weight of its debt. It was, by his own account, a difficult period, but one that informed his later approach to risk and capital.

He returned to formal employment, joining the Development Bank of Southern Africa, where he led private sector investments. There, he managed a R4 billion ($247.4 million) portfolio and oversaw a sharp increase in approvals from R320 million ($19.8 million) to R2.1 billion ($130 million) within a single financial year, while disbursements rose from R300 million ($18.5 million) to R870 million ($53.8 million) in 2002/2003.

His work also extended to shaping infrastructure financing strategies linked to the New Partnership for Africa’s Development. From there, he moved to the Public Investment Corporation, where he headed corporate finance and the Isibaya Fund, executing R13 billion ($804.2 million) in transactions over three years and delivering returns of 45 percent in 2003/2004 and 40 percent in 2004/2005.

Mahloele expands energy, infrastructure reach

That experience laid the foundation for what would become a defining part of his career. In 2004, he founded Anergi Group, a power company operating across sub-Saharan Africa. Anergi develops and runs utility-scale energy projects, with six assets across Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Sierra Leone, delivering a combined capacity of 1,518 megawatts across thermal and renewable sources. The company’s footprint, built over 16 years, has reached about 30 million people. In 2025, it expanded into distributed energy through Decentralised Energy Limited, a joint venture focused on supplying power and gas to businesses in Nigeria.

Two years later, in 2006, Mahloele established Harith General Partners, building on his experience in development finance and infrastructure investing. Under his leadership, the firm has backed a range of high-profile assets, including MainOne, Dark Fibre Africa, the Henri Konan Bédié Bridge in Côte d’Ivoire, the Lake Turkana Wind Farm in Kenya and Lanseria International Airport in South Africa. Its investments now span nine African countries and cover sectors central to economic activity, from transport corridors to digital connectivity.

Backing infrastructure, airlines, South African banking

Mahloele also played a central role in structuring the $630 million Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund in 2007, launched in Ghana with support from the African Development Bank Group and managed by Harith. The fund was set up to channel private equity into infrastructure projects across power, telecommunications and transport, reinforcing Harith’s position as a long-term investor in the sector.

More recently, Harith and its affiliates signed an agreement to acquire FlySafair, one of South Africa’s fastest-growing airlines, in a deal subject to regulatory approvals, including from the Competition Commission. The proposed investment reflects Harith’s approach of backing established businesses with long-term capital while maintaining existing management structures and focusing on operational continuity. The move aligns with the firm’s broader strategy of building an integrated transport network across the continent.

Outside Harith, Mahloele chairs Lebashe Investment Group, holding a 6.59 percent stake in Capitec Bank—7,654,840 shares now valued above $2 billion. With over 850 branches and 7,400 ATMs, Capitec serves millions and is among South Africa’s most recognized retail banking brands. Across all roles, Mahloele’s career reflects a focus on channeling capital into projects that meet Africa’s infrastructure and financial needs.