In the dynamic landscape of global sustainable finance, few institutions have carved as distinct and ambitious a path as Elite Capital & Co. Limited. Spearheading two of the most innovative financial initiatives of the decade the “Government Future Financing 2030 Programme ®” and the “NextGen Industrial Development Fund ®” the London-based firm is redefining the relationship between capital, development, and sustainability. As global attention turns towards the financing gaps in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, CEO Insight sat down with the architects of this strategy: Dr. Faisal Khazaal, PhD. LLD. KGCC., Chairman, and George Matharu, MBA., CEO. We explored the philosophy behind their unique models, the tangible impact they aim to deliver, and their vision for a future where financial innovation is inextricably linked with tangible, sustainable development.

CEO Insight: Elite Capital manages the world’s leading public financing initiative, the Government Future Financing 2030 Programme. In a region often cautious of sovereign debt, what is the core innovation that allows you to finance 80% of national projects without adding to a government’s debt burden?

Dr. Faisal Khazaal: That is the very question at the heart of our philosophy. The core innovation is not merely a financial instrument, but a fundamental re-alignment of interests and risk structures. We have moved beyond the traditional lender-borrower dichotomy, which, as we’ve seen across emerging economies, often leads to debt distress and constrains future fiscal policy.

Our approach under the GFF2030 Programme transforms the very nature of public financing. Rather than extending loans that require sovereign guarantees and add to national debt, we structure bespoke financial solutions where repayment is secured through innovative, project-specific mechanisms rather than general sovereign recourse. This means the Ministry of Finance is not providing traditional sovereign guarantees; the financing is arranged against tailored security structures designed for each project’s unique characteristics.

The mechanism represents a paradigm shift in how development is funded. Our capital commitment is structured to avoid classification as sovereign debt, creating a sustainable alternative that preserves a nation’s fiscal space. This transforms what would traditionally be a sovereign liability into a strategically designed development partnership.

Furthermore, by covering 80% of the requirement through this innovative approach, we fundamentally de-risk the initiative, making it possible for the remaining 20% to be raised from the private sector through a transparent, competitive bidding process. This isn’t merely about providing capital; it’s about introducing a more sophisticated, sustainable form of development financing that aligns with long-term national interests. It is the financial equivalent of building a new engine for growth, rather than simply adding more fuel to a system that may not be designed for the journey ahead. The result is that essential infrastructure, from ports to power networks, gets built, stimulating the economy and creating jobs, without imposing the long-term burden of sovereign debt that can stifle a nation’s potential for a generation.

CEO Insight: The recent Special Report in CEO Insight highlights a key challenge: the gap between ambitious policy announcements and financial closure for sustainable projects. How does the GFF2030 Programme ‘s structure specifically address this ‘implementation gap’ and ensure projects actually get built?

George Matharu: You’ve identified the single greatest point of failure in development finance, what we call the ‘valley of death’ between political vision and financial reality. Our structure attacks this implementation gap through three deliberate, interlocking mechanisms that transform ambition into concrete and steel.

First, we address the funding certainty that kills so many projects at the feasibility stage. By pre-committing to 80% of the capital requirement upon successful due diligence, we remove the perennial ‘if’ of funding and replace it with the ‘how’ of execution. This isn’t a letter of intent or an expression of interest; it’s a binding financial offer that allows governments to proceed with confidence, knowing the capital foundation is secure. This alone eliminates years of uncertainty that typically plague large-scale infrastructure initiatives.

Secondly, we enforce transaction discipline through a structured, conditional process. The requirement for a transparent international bidding process for the remaining 20% and the construction contract isn’t just about fairness, it’s a forcing mechanism. It creates an irreversible momentum toward financial closure. Once the government initiates the process, market forces take over. Local consortia and international contractors, seeing a fully funded opportunity, engage with serious proposals, creating a competitive dynamic that ensures the project moves forward efficiently and at market-competitive rates.

Finally, and most critically, we build bankable structures from day one. The ‘implementation gap’ often exists because projects are politically conceived but commercially unviable. Our rigorous initial assessment focuses exclusively on projects that can demonstrate both developmental impact and a clear, secure revenue model. By structuring the financing against project-specific assets and future cash flows, we ensure the venture is economically self-sustaining once operational. This commercial discipline means we only back projects that are truly ready for the market, moving them from the drawing board to the construction phase with a velocity that traditional development finance simply cannot match.

The result is a model that doesn’t just finance projects, it orchestrates their delivery. We replace hope with a proven, structured pathway that bridges the chasm between announcement and achievement, ensuring that sustainable projects don’t just remain as concepts in policy documents, but become tangible assets that drive economic growth.

CEO Insight: GFF2030 Programme emphasises a transparent competitive bidding process for the remaining 20% of project funding. Why was it critical to embed this principle of ‘fairness and equality’ directly into the programme ‘s DNA, and how does it combat the perception of risk associated with some emerging markets?

Dr. Faisal Khazaal: This gets to the very heart of why many well-intentioned initiatives fail in emerging markets. Transparency isn’t merely a box-ticking exercise for us; it is the cornerstone of our risk mitigation strategy and the single most powerful tool for altering market perceptions.

When we mandate a transparent, competitive bidding process for the 20% private sector portion, we are doing something far more profound than simply allocating contracts. We are systematically dismantling the opacity that has traditionally inflated risk premiums and deterred institutional capital. In markets where the perception of cronyism or favouritism persists, the cost of capital inevitably rises to account for that governance risk. By embedding fairness and equality into our process, we are not being idealistic, we are being intensely practical. We are lowering the risk premium by design.

Consider the mechanism: an open, internationally-advertised tender where the evaluation criteria are published in advance and applied consistently. This does two things. Firstly, it attracts a higher calibre of bidder, serious international firms and robust local champions who would otherwise avoid markets where the playing field is not level. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, it creates a self-reinforcing ecosystem of accountability. The transparency of the process itself becomes a public guarantee against the arbitrary allocation of lucrative contracts, which in turn builds long-term investor confidence far beyond the individual project.

This approach directly addresses what development economists identify as the ‘governance discount’ applied to emerging markets. A 2023 study by the Global Infrastructure Hub noted that projects with transparent procurement processes saw financing costs reduced by an average of 150-200 basis points. We are, in effect, engineering a more favourable financial environment. The competitive tension ensures the government and its people receive the best possible value, while the demonstrated commitment to fair practice signals to the global investment community that this is a jurisdiction where contracts are respected, and success is determined by merit, not connections.

Ultimately, this principle of fairness is our answer to the perception of risk. We replace uncertainty with a clear, rules-based framework. It proves that the project’s success is the primary objective, making it not just a financially sound investment, but an ethically defensible one. This is how we build a track record that doesn’t just fund a single port or power plant, but helps to recalibrate the entire risk profile of a nation for future investment.

CEO Insight: Turning to the NextGen Industrial Development Fund, this is described as a global first. George Matharu, could you elaborate on the fundamental paradigm shift from debt-based financing to an equity partnership model, and why you believe this is the key to unlocking industrial potential in the MENA region?

George Matharu: Thank you for asking about what truly excites us. The paradigm shift is profound; it’s the difference between being a mere lender and becoming a true architect of industrial resilience. The traditional debt-based model is fundamentally broken for first-time industrialists and ambitious expansion projects. It forces entrepreneurs to bear 100% of the risk while shackling them with repayments that often begin before their factory even produces its first unit. We have data from the World Bank indicating that nearly three-quarters of industrial startups in emerging markets fail within five years primarily due to this unsustainable debt servicing burden.

Our equity partnership model dismantles this destructive dynamic. We are not a bank that lends you money; we are a partner that builds your factory with you. By replacing debt with equity, we completely eliminate the monthly repayment sword of Damocles hanging over the entrepreneur’s head. This aligns our success irrevocably with theirs. We only succeed when their factory is profitable and thriving. This isn’t just a financial adjustment; it’s a complete realignment of ambition and incentive.

Why is this the key for the MENA region specifically? Because the region stands at a historic crossroads, with unrivalled geographic positioning and a young, ambitious population. However, its full industrial potential has been constrained by the very ‘collateral paradox’ I mentioned. The old model required entrepreneurs to have assets to get a loan to acquire those very assets, a perfect Catch-22.

Our model shatters this paradox. We provide the land, the licences, the infrastructure, and the construction. The entrepreneur’s capital is their expertise, their technology, and their vision. This does not just unlock potential; it unleashes a wave of innovation from a generation of industrialists who were previously deemed ‘unbankable’. We are creating a new asset class by betting on human ingenuity, not just existing balance sheets. For the MENA region, this is the catalyst to transition from a resource-based economy to a diversified, knowledge-based industrial powerhouse, built on a foundation of shared success rather than crippling debt.

CEO Insight: The NextGen Fund completely waives collateral requirements, which is almost unheard of for industrial financing. Dr. Khazaal, this seems a significant risk. What gives you the confidence to replace traditional bank guarantees with a ‘shared risk’ model, and what does this mean for any first-time industrialist with a visionary idea but no assets, and what does that mean for the industry giants at the same time?

Dr. Faisal Khazaal: Your perception of risk is precisely what the conventional financial system sees, and it is why generations of industrial potential have remained locked away. Our confidence does not come from recklessness, but from a fundamental recalibration of what constitutes true security. We have moved from assessing static assets on a balance sheet to evaluating the dynamic potential of a venture and its creators.

Our confidence stems from three meticulously engineered pillars.

First, we invest in comprehensive due diligence, not just financial history. We scrutinise the viability of the technology, the depth of the management team’s expertise, the scalability of the business model, and the robustness of the market demand. The entrepreneur’s intellectual property, their technical know-how, and their proven track record in their field become their collateral. This is a far more revealing, and ultimately more secure, indicator of future success than a ledger of existing assets.

Second, our ‘shared risk’ model is not a slogan; it is a powerful governance mechanism. By taking an equity stake and becoming a true partner, we secure a seat at the table. This allows for active oversight, strategic guidance, and the implementation of world-class operational and financial controls from the very first day of construction. Our capital is not a distant loan; it is an embedded partner ensuring best practice, which dramatically de-risks the venture’s execution.

Finally, we control the entire industrial ecosystem in which the venture operates. We secure the land, build the factory to specification, and manage the core utilities and local marketing. These are not just services; they are strategic assets that we own and manage. This vertical integration means the primary physical and operational risks are under our purview, leaving the entrepreneur to focus on what they do best: production, quality, and technology.

For the first-time industrialist, this is nothing short of liberation. It means a visionary with a proven prototype and a solid business plan can access a turnkey, world-class manufacturing facility. Their commitment is their sweat equity, their innovation, and their unwavering dedication. They can build an industrial legacy starting from zero tangible assets.

For the industry giant seeking to establish or expand in the MENA region, the value proposition is equally compelling. It means they can deploy their significant capital not into bricks, mortar, and bureaucratic hurdles, but directly into their core competitive advantages: advanced production line technology, raw material sourcing, and global market expansion. We remove the immense fixed-cost barrier and executional friction of entering a new market, allowing them to achieve scale and profitability in a fraction of the time and with a fraction of the capital expenditure.

In essence, we have replaced the obsolete question of “What do you own?” with the far more relevant question: “What can you build?” This is not a greater risk; it is a smarter, more holistic approach to building the industries of the future.

CEO Insight: The NextGen model involves the fund taking an equity stake. George Matharu, how do you ensure this partnership remains balanced and that the entrepreneur’s vision and operational control are protected, fostering a true collaboration rather than a takeover?

George Matharu: This is the most delicate and vital part of the architecture. An equity stake must not become a stranglehold on innovation. Our philosophy is that we are building a partnership, not acquiring an asset. The distinction is everything, and it is codified into the very fabric of our agreements and our operational conduct.

We ensure balance through a tripartite framework of protection, empowerment, and aligned incentives.

Firstly, governance is clearly delineated from day one. The shareholder’s agreement is meticulously crafted to create a balanced board structure. While we have a seat to protect our investment and provide strategic oversight, the entrepreneur retains operational control and a veto on key creative decisions, particularly concerning product development, brand identity, and core technology. We see ourselves as the stewards of the factory’s infrastructure and financial health; they are the custodians of the vision and the product. This separation of powers is fundamental.

Secondly, our success is entirely contingent on their success. A takeover implies we could run the venture better ourselves, which is a fallacy. We are financiers and industrial ecosystem builders, not specialists in manufacturing their specific product. If we stifle the very innovation and passion that made the venture promising, we destroy its value and, consequently, our own investment. Our returns are not based on management fees or loan interest, but on the long-term profitability of the enterprise. This creates a powerful, natural incentive to nurture the entrepreneur’s vision, not supplant it.

Finally, we build performance-based milestones, not command-and-control directives. The partnership is structured around achieving mutually agreed targets, production volumes, quality benchmarks, market share. How the entrepreneur and their team meet these goals is their domain. We provide the tools, the factory, the infrastructure, the financial backbone, and they provide the genius. We are the stagehands ensuring the lights are on and the set is solid, so the entrepreneur, the lead actor, can deliver a stellar performance.

In short, we are not a faceless fund seeking control. We are a dedicated partner providing the foundation for their ambition to flourish. Our equity stake is a badge of our long-term commitment, a symbol that we are in the trenches with them, sharing both the risks and the ultimate triumph. A takeover extracts value; a true collaboration, as we practice it, multiplies it.

CEO Insight: Your literature cites World Bank data indicating that 72% of industrial startups in emerging markets fail within five years due to debt burdens. Dr. Khazaal, beyond removing debt, how does the NextGen Fund’s comprehensive support – from land acquisition to local marketing – actively work to reverse this alarming statistic?

Dr. Faisal Khazaal: A profound question. Removing the debt burden is merely the first, albeit crucial, step in resuscitating a patient on life support. The 72% failure rate you cite is not simply a number; it is a symphony of failure, where debt is the dominant melody, but the (accompaniment) is a cacophony of operational, logistical, and market-entry hurdles. Our comprehensive support is designed to silence this cacophony, creating instead a harmonious environment where industrial ventures can not only survive but thrive.

We actively reverse this statistic by functioning as an industrial ecosystem architect, systematically dismantling each key point of failure.

Consider the challenges: A brilliant entrepreneur often spends 18 to 24 months, and their scarce capital, navigating bureaucratic labyrinths for land and licenses before even pouring a foundation. This is 24 months of burn rate with zero revenue. We eliminate this fatal delay. By securing the land and fast-tracking all necessary permits through our established government channels, we compress this timeline dramatically. The entrepreneur’s journey begins at the construction phase, not in a government waiting room.

Furthermore, we address the critical infrastructure gap. A factory is not an island. The lack of reliable power, water, and logistics connectivity can cripple operations from day one. We do not just build the factory walls; we construct the entire enabling infrastructure, power substations, water connections, internal road networks. This ensures the venture is born operational, not hamstrung by its surroundings.

Perhaps most critically, our support extends to the commercial lifeline. A new factory can produce the world’s finest goods, but without market access, it is merely a warehouse. Our local marketing management provides an immediate commercial channel, generating cash flow from the first day of production. This is a radical departure from the traditional model where a startup must simultaneously manage production, build a sales force, and establish a brand, all while servicing debt. We alleviate these parallel pressures, allowing the entrepreneur to focus singularly on perfecting their product and production quality.

In essence, we remove the three primary non-death causes of failure: bureaucratic paralysis, infrastructural neglect, and commercial isolation. We are not merely providing capital; we are providing certainty, capability, and immediate market access. This holistic intervention transforms the industrial startup journey from a desperate survival trek into a managed, supported ascent. We are not just improving the odds; we are fundamentally rewriting them, creating a new statistic where the majority of supported ventures become enduring pillars of their local economies.

CEO Insight: A central theme in sustainable finance today is the ‘credibility question’ and the need for verifiable impact. George Matharu, with both the GFF2030 Programme and NextGen Fund, what specific, measurable metrics do you employ to ensure that ‘sustainability’ is a tangible outcome and not merely a marketing claim?

George Matharu: You have put your finger on the single greatest vulnerability in our industry, the gap between sustainability rhetoric and measurable reality. We regard this not as a challenge, but as our core operational discipline. For us, impact must be as quantifiable and as rigorously tracked as financial returns. We have moved beyond vague aspirations to a framework of mandatory, outcome-based verification that is embedded into the lifecycle of every investment.

For the GFF2030 Programme the metrics are tied to national development outcomes. We do not simply fund a ‘green’ project; we contractually bind disbursements and success to a strict set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). These include:

• Infrastructure Output & Access: Megawatts of renewable energy capacity added to the national grid; cubic metres of clean water provided per day; number of households connected to new sanitation systems.
• Socio-Economic Advancement: Number of permanent and local jobs created, disaggregated by gender; measurable GDP growth contribution in the project’s region; value of contracts awarded to local small and medium-sized enterprises.
• Fiscal Sustainability: The definitive metric here is the project’s non-classification as sovereign debt, preserving the nation’s debt-to-GDP ratio. This is a binary, auditable outcome.
• For the NextGen Industrial Development Fund, the lens shifts to the industrial and environmental footprint of each factory. Every partnership agreement includes covenants requiring:
• Resource Efficiency: Specific targets for water recycling rates and energy consumption per unit produced, benchmarked against international standards.
• Emissions & Waste: Direct measurement of Scope 1 and 2 CO₂ emissions reductions, and the percentage of manufacturing waste diverted from landfill.
• Social Impact: Data on local employment, skills training hours provided, and the percentage of management roles filled by local talent.

Crucially, this is not self-reported data. We mandate independent, third-party audit and verification against these metrics annually. The data is then compiled into publicly available impact reports. This level of transparency does two things: it provides our investors and stakeholders with irrefutable proof of impact, and it creates a powerful incentive for our portfolio companies to maintain the highest standards.

In short, we have built a system where sustainability is not a label, but a ledger. It is accounted for with the same rigour as profit and loss. This transforms ‘impact’ from a marketing cost into a measurable, reportable asset, which is the only way to build lasting credibility and trust in this field.

CEO Insight: Dr. Khazaal, the GFF2030 Programme is a registered trademark, and Elite Capital emphasises direct engagement with governments, excluding intermediaries. In a field where opacity can be an issue, how do these policies fortify the integrity and long-term credibility of your operations?

Dr. Faisal Khazaal: This is not merely a policy for us; it is the non-negotiable foundation upon which our entire operational integrity is built. In a sector where ambiguous mandates and undisclosed intermediaries have historically eroded trust and inflated costs, we have chosen a path of radical transparency and direct accountability. These policies are the practical manifestation of our globally certified commitments to anti-bribery, quality management, and information security.

The registered trademark is far more than a legal formality. It is a public pledge of consistency and quality control. It signifies that the ‘Government Future Financing 2030 Programme’ is a standardised, repeatable process with defined methodologies and outcomes, not an ad-hoc arrangement that changes with every deal. This protects both us and our government partners, ensuring that the programme delivered in Kenya is structurally and ethically identical to the one delivered in the Middle East. It is a brand promise of reliability, backed by the full force of intellectual property law and our suite of ISO certifications.

The exclusion of intermediaries is the critical enforcement mechanism for this integrity. This policy is the operational embodiment of our ISO 37001 Anti-Bribery Management System. By dealing directly with official government channels, we systematically eliminate the risk of unauthorised facilitation fees, misrepresentation, and conflicts of interest that intermediaries can introduce. This ensures that every discussion, every term, and every document is scrutinised solely by the legitimate decision-makers, preserving the sanctity of the negotiation and guaranteeing that the state’s interests are paramount. Our AML-certified protocols further mandate this direct engagement to ensure complete traceability of funds and communications.

Furthermore, our operational philosophy aligns with the G20’s ongoing emphasis on strengthening global financial architecture and promoting transparency in public-private partnerships. The G20 has consistently advocated for the very principles we have institutionalised: combatting corruption through robust frameworks, ensuring fair competition, and building accountable financial systems. Our direct engagement model and trademark-protected standards directly support these objectives, creating a benchmark for how development finance should be conducted in the modern era.

Together, these policies create an ecosystem of trust that is both verifiable and durable. They demonstrate that our long-term credibility is not built on personal relationships or opaque networks, but on systems, standards, and transparent processes. This allows a Minister of Finance to engage with us with the confidence that they are dealing with an entity whose operations are externally audited for quality, information security, and anti-bribery compliance. It transforms a high-stakes financial negotiation from a leap of faith into a managed, secure, and professionally assured process, which is precisely what is required to become the trusted partner for national development that we aspire to be.

CEO Insight: Looking ahead to 2030, the namesake of your flagship Programme, George Matharu, what single, transformative impact do you hope Elite Capital’s twin initiatives will have had on the economic landscape of Africa and the Middle East by the end of this decade?

George Matharu: By 2030, we aim to have catalysed a fundamental structural shift, to have moved the economic centre of gravity in these regions from resource dependency to productive capability. The single most transformative impact will be visible in a new generation of industrial assets and infrastructure that are not merely built, but are intrinsically self-sustaining, job-creating, and globally competitive.

Through the GFF2030 Programme, we will have demonstrably closed the critical infrastructure gap that the African Development Bank quantifies at over $100 billion annually, but we will have done so without saddling nations with the sovereign debt that traditionally follows such building sprees. The transformative impact here is fiscal resilience, the creation of essential ports, power grids, and transport networks that serve as the arteries of commerce, without constricting the fiscal heartbeat of the nation.

Simultaneously, the NextGen Fund will have planted the seeds of a modern industrial base. We are not just building factories; we are cultivating industrial ecosystems. The true metric of success by 2030 will not be the number of factories we’ve funded, but the emergence of vibrant supply chains, specialised skilled labour pools, and a measurable rise in high-value exports emanating from the MENA region and Africa. We envision these regions not as perpetual emerging markets, but as established, interconnected hubs in the global industrial and logistics network.

In essence, the twin initiatives work in concert: GFF2030 builds the foundational stage, the roads, power, and ports, and NextGen populates that stage with world-class, profitable industrial actors. The transformative outcome is an economic landscape that no longer just exports raw materials but designs, manufactures, and exports finished goods to the world. It is a landscape where economic growth is driven by innovation and production, not solely by commodity prices, creating a more resilient, diversified, and prosperous future for the entire region. This is the legacy we are committed to building by 2030.

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Our conversation with Dr. Faisal Khazaal and George Matharu reveals a financial philosophy that is as pragmatic as it is visionary. Elite Capital & Co. Limited is not merely participating in the sustainable finance sector; it is actively recalibrating its very mechanics. By replacing archaic debt models with collaborative, equity-based partnerships and sovereign-debt-free infrastructure financing, the firm is demonstrating that the highest standards of integrity, buttressed by their formidable array of global certifications, are not a barrier to success, but its very foundation.

The twin engines of the GFF2030 Programme and the NextGen Industrial Development Fund represent a powerful, dual-pronged strategy. One builds the indispensable backbone of modern economies, while the other cultivates the industrial talent that thrives upon it. As the global community looks towards 2030, the proof of this model will be in the tangible, measurable outcomes it delivers: not just in capital deployed, but in infrastructure completed without fiscal strain, in factories built without crippling debt, and in economic landscapes transformed from the ground up. For Africa and the Middle East, the message is clear: the future of development is being written not just with capital, but with a new covenant of trust and shared ambition.

For more information: ec.uk.com