Dirk Holshausen

Director, British International Investment

Dirk is a Director at British International Investment (formerly CDC Group) and part of the senior Africa leadership team with responsibility for USD2bn of investments annually across private equity, funds, and debt in the region. He is the founder of Growth Investment Partners (GIP) - a new type of investment company re-imagined and designed from the ground up to provide better matched growth capital for small and medium sized businesses in Africa. While large companies focus on efficiencies, and start-ups struggle to scale, these companies in the middle should be responsible for driving growth and most net new job creation. Funded by BII, GIP Ghana launched in 2023 and Dirk is now replicating the model in other countries across the continent.

Dirk is Zimbabwean where he grew up and lives with his family, has a BEng in Computing from Imperial College in London, and an MBA from Oxford where he chaired the Oxford Africa Business Forum. Before impact investing, Dirk served as an officer in the British Army and led teams on operations around the world including two tours of Afghanistan.