STANLIB Asset Management has announced the first close of its Khanyisa Energy Transition Fund with R5 billion raised to date to support investment in South Africa’s energy transition. The asset manager says the fund aims to mobilise capital from long-term investors to help finance the country’s just energy transition ambitions.
According to STANLIB, the fund was launched in November 2023 with seed funding commitments from Standard Bank and Liberty. The first close was recorded in December 2025 with the capital already deployed across 14 operating assets in the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme.
Johan Marnewick, Head of Fixed Income Private Markets at STANLIB Asset Management and portfolio manager of the fund, said the vehicle provides exposure to mature, cash-generating assets.
Energy transition and related developmental infrastructure has become a major capital formation theme in South Africa although the sector remains at a relatively early stage with significant room for expansion, he added.
STANLIB says the fund is expected to grow over time to R18 billion with a broader investment scope that could include renewable energy, decentralised energy such as rooftop solar, related infrastructure, minerals critical to the energy transition, green hydrogen and transport technologies such as battery systems, electric vehicle infrastructure and sustainable mobility solutions.
The fund is targeting investors including retirement funds, life insurers, fixed income asset managers and development finance institutions. STANLIB says it seeks to generate risk-adjusted returns through a portfolio of credit instruments including investment-grade South African corporate debt, asset-backed finance, development finance and project finance.
