An invitation-only summit in Kirikiriroa, Hamilton, brought some of the world’s biggest investors into the Māori world, where Te Arikinui launched a new fund to turn relationships into long-term capital.
What is at stake: Māori leaders wanted the summit to shift their $126 billion economy from scattered success to collective scale and to show it could be a serious home for global investment.
Background: Ōhanga ki te Ao gathered more than 200 iwi leaders, business chiefs and international investors and ended with the launch of a Kotahitanga Fund seeded with about $100 million.
Main players: Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te pō, Rukumoana Schaafhausen, Justin Tipa, Adrian Orr, Gordon Fyfe and Duncan Bonfield, along with New Zealand business leaders.
On Saturday, the whare of Waikato University felt more like a global investment forum than a campus auditorium. More than 200 delegates arrived at Ōhanga ki te Ao, an indigenous economic summit convened by Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po, the Māori Queen.
Sign up to get the latest stories and insights delivered to your inbox – free, every day.
Key points
What is at stake: Māori leaders wanted the summit to shift their $126 billion economy from scattered success to collective scale and to show it could be a serious home for global investment.
Background: Ōhanga ki te Ao gathered more than 200 iwi leaders, business chiefs and international investors and ended with the launch of a Kotahitanga Fund seeded with about $100 million.
Main players: Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te pō, Rukumoana Schaafhausen, Justin Tipa, Adrian Orr, Gordon Fyfe and Duncan Bonfield, along with New Zealand business leaders.