Pranav Khamar
[00:00:00] The culture of Gemcorp is great. What is probably the most unique thing about it is just the blend of really different DNAs and different experiences, all coming together into one building.
[00:00:11] My name is Pranav Khamar. I'm part of the investments and structuring team here at Gemcorp. What I do is really take the investments that we make, which are really starting out as concepts on a page. Bring those to life, turn those into a true investment and really see that investment through its ups and downs.
[00:00:29] I've been at Gemcorp for about seven years, so pretty much since the beginning of the firm. Before joining Gemcorp, I used to work in a large international bank doing emerging markets financing, if only by name.
Super: An Entrepreneurial DNA
[00:00:44] What I think really differentiates us from some of the other big institutional investors and banks who operate in emerging markets or say they do. Our approach, our DNA is set up to be entrepreneurial and to be nimble.
[00:00:56] And what that means in practice for all four counterparties, for host nations is that when we go and when we meet to put together an investment, we start by listening and finding out what the needs are, what the constraints are and then tailoring something starting with a blank sheet of paper and tailoring something that works for them as much as it works for us.
[00:01:17] What really drew me towards emerging markets is the dynamism of it. Every day represents a new challenge in a deal that I'm working on. That also is a challenge, but it ultimately what keeps us on our toes and really keeps our pencil sharp.
Super: Making An Impact
[00:01:33] I think what certainly underpinned my experience here at Gemcorp. is that we're prepared to go where others just simply don't have the patience, don't have necessarily the capability or kind of the reach to and is certainly relevant in our experience at Gemcorp. today is the need to fit, really tailor the experience, tailor our solutions to the cultural, to the historical and the geographic context in which we're operating and in which the who are hosting us as investors.
[00:02:13] For me, that is really exciting because it means that when you're working on an investment, you're not following a template, you're not following a well-trodden path that someone has done before. But really, you're delivering something that makes a tangible difference to the people with whom we're working, with whom we're partnering.
Super: Localised Experts
[00:02;38] One of the things that I think makes Gemcorp really special is that we have local presence within the host markets that we operate, that we invest. And what that really means is that it puts us first in line for the opportunities, but it also helps us understand which are the ones that we want to be first in line for and which ones we don't.
[00:02:56] What it also means looking down the road is that when we do make an investment and we do see the inevitable ups and downs and the bumps in the road, we see them ahead rather than after the fact and that we can course correct with our counterparties in collaboration rather than working against each other. As I've often seen elsewhere.
Super: Solutions Focused
[00:03:20] Being able to sit in a room and sketch on a white board, a structure that takes into account all of the different challenges, all of the different opinions that people have come to and have reasoned from their different experiences in different fields, I think is really powerful.
[00:03:35] What I think is going to be the most enduring driver of Africa's economic growth and prosperity over the next century is not going to be banks putting capital into billion-dollar projects.
[00:03;46] It is that the entrepreneurial level listening and taking in an idea and turning that into an investment with someone who we've worked on the ground and who we choose to work with on the ground, taking that fledgling medium scale business and turning it into an African growth champion.
[00:04:04] And that's really what makes me proud to be doing what we do here, at Gemcorp.
As part of our Brighter Perspective series, we want to introduce Pranav Khamar, Private Credit Portfolio Manager, at GEMCORP Capital. Pranav gives us his insight into the dynamism that makes working with the emerging markets so motivating and inspiring.
