Chi Jianxin

President, China-Africa Development Fund

Announced to much fanfare at the 2006 China-Africa summit, the China-Africa Development Fund (CADF) was formally established in June 2007 by the China Development Bank. The 50-year fund now manages US$1 billion, an amount that will later rise to $5 bn. The Chairman of the Board is the politically well-connected Vice-Governor of the CDB, Gao Jian. The public face of the fund is Chi Jianxin, once the director of CDB's Investment Banking Department.

Equity funds in China are still a fledgling industry. CDB had assembled just four before the CADF, by far the largest of them. It focuses on agriculture, manufacturing and infrastructure. Sensitive to criticism of China's motives, Chi downplays any interest in mineral resources and points out that the fund does not pursue controlling stakes. He describes the fund as 'for-profit, but not only for profit'.

Among the Fund's investments to date: a ferrochrome plant in Zimbabwe (with Sinosteel), a glass factory in Ethiopia (with CGC Overseas Construction) and a power station in Ghana (with Shenzhen Energy Investment).