CI Capital and Engazaat Launch $200M SAVE Fund to Tackle MEA Sustainability

CI Capital has teamed up with Egyptian clean-tech developer engazaat to roll out a $200 million investment fund aimed at tackling one of the most stubborn challenges of our time: the link between water, energy and food. The initiative, fittingly named the SAVE Fund, is being hailed as the first of its kind not just in Egypt but across the wider Middle East and Africa.

The agreement was signed at CI Capital’s Cairo headquarters, with senior executives from both sides in attendance. Hesham Gohar, Group CEO of CI Capital, made the case that this isn’t merely another financial venture. He described the move as a way to tie private capital to sustainable development, particularly in areas like food security and climate resilience. In truth, it’s a sector crying out for solutions—anyone who’s spent time out in Upper Egypt during the hot harvest season knows just how fragile the “water-energy-food” balance can be.

On the flip side, engazaat isn’t a newcomer testing the waters. For more than a decade, the company has been working on solar water and infrastructure tech, spreading from Egypt into the wider MEA region. Its co-founder Muhammad El Demerdash said the partnership proves the so-called Global South can attract both impact funding and hard-nosed investment capital. Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, serving as engazaat’s honorary chairman, went a step further. He pointed out that this could help the region not only expand access to water and energy, but also carve out a role in meeting global climate goals—something policymakers often talk about but struggle to deliver.

What gives the project a bit of extra heft is the decision to structure the fund out of the Abu Dhabi Global Market, under the eye of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority. A mirror version will be set up back in Egypt to encourage both local investors and international players to dip their toes in. Mahmoud Khalifa, Executive Investment Director of CI Capital Private Equity, noted that governance and transparency will be at the heart of the fund—definately a key point with so much scepticism in the air around “green finance” promises.

That said, investing in WEF projects isn’t without its complications. Setting up solar-powered water infrastructure or developing sustainable farming hubs can be a bit of a faff, not least because it involves juggling land rights, technology adoption and finance at the same time. Still, the fund plans to lean on engazaat’s award-winning Sustainable Agro Village model of integrated clean-tech and agriculture—a blueprint that has already been tested on the ground.

I reckon this fund will be watched closely by other financial institutions in the MENA region. If it works, it could set a precedent for how private equity and cleantech businesses collaborate on large-scale sustainability projects. And if it doesn’t scale as planned? Well… I mean, that’s part of the nature of venture investment. But even getting to this point shows an appetite for tackling issues often swept under the rug. As we often say at Arageek, empowering startups isn’t just about apps and fintech—it’s about addressing the big structural challenges, too.

For now, both CI Capital and engazaat will be chuffed to bits just getting this ambitious effort off the blocks. Whether SAVE does exactly what it says on the tin, only time will tell.

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