George Ndirai

George Ndirai is the Chief Finance Officer of Fanisi Capital Ltd, the Nairobi-based fund manager of the Fanisi Venture Capital Fund. In that role he is responsible for fund administration, reporting to investors, and supporting and enhancing portfolio management, fund management and settlement functions across the funds under management — including general accounting, cash management, capital calls and distributions, and quarterly financial and performance reporting. His work sits on the finance/operations side of the fund rather than on deal origination.

Before Fanisi, Ndirai was a Senior Accountant at Canon Assurance, where he prepared management accounts and financial reports and ensured statutory filings. Prior to that he was a Senior Auditor at Ernst & Young (E&Y), serving as audit lead on assignments in the financial services and private equity sectors — experience directly relevant to fund-level finance and reporting.

He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from United States International University–Africa (USIU-A) and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Nairobi. He is a qualified Certified Public Accountant, CPA (Kenya), and a member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK). Public LinkedIn references also list consulting-style finance and operations engagements (for example, work described as supporting a fund/finance function and assignments connected to institutions such as Afreximbank), consistent with a career spanning audit, corporate accounting and fund finance.

Fanisi Capital itself was founded in 2009 by Norfund (the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries) and Amani Capital, launching as roughly a US$50m East Africa fund. It is led by Managing Partner/CEO Ayisi Makatiani, with Tony Wainaina as Managing Partner; Ndirai is part of the firm's core management team as its finance chief.

• Fanisi Capital makes direct private equity / venture capital investments in growth-oriented SMEs with potential for "substantial growth" in East Africa.
• Sectors: the firm's stated focus areas are agribusiness, healthcare, education, retail/consumer (FMCG) and financial services; earlier materials list a broader generalist set (ICT, manufacturing, media, logistics, tourism, housing).
• Geography: four East African markets — Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda.
• Check size / structure: Fund I targeted roughly US$0.5–3m per portfolio company, aiming to hold ~10–12 SMEs at a time; Fund II was structured as a 10-year closed-end vehicle targeting US$75–100m (it ultimately closed smaller, around US$35m) with a mandate to back growth-stage SMEs across the same four sectors.
• What makes them invest: established but growth-hungry businesses that can absorb institutional capital and governance, in defensive, demand-led sectors (food, health, education, consumer). As CFO, Ndirai's lens is fund discipline — reporting, portfolio management support and settlement — rather than a personal, published deal thesis.