Bronwyn Knight, Chief Executive Officer, Grit Real Estate Income Group

Bronwyn is the CEO and a founding member of Grit. She is a Chartered Accountant and has served on several property company boards. Under Bronwyn’s leadership, Grit has grown its portfolio from two assets valued at US$140m at listing to 33 income-producing assets and investments across eleven countries and seven asset classes, with an attributed value of $785.9 million as at 30 June 2023.  

Bronwyn spearheaded the optimisation of Grit’s capital structure, which culminated in a step-up to a Premium listing on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange in 2021 and further played an instrumental role in securing a US$306 million refinancing agreement, which at the time was the largest sustainability linked real estate debt refinancing and syndication in Sub Saharan Africa – excluding SA –  setting a new benchmark for African real estate investment. She further drove Grit’s recent asset recycling programme, achieving US$136 million in disposals at or close to book value and significantly reducing the Group’s number of associates.

Under her leadership, Grit further refined its strategy with the acquisition of African real estate developer, GREA, and its asset management company, as well as establishing fee-income generating channels and solutions through real estate services. 

Bronwyn was recognized as the 2019 EY Entrepreneur of the Year (Southern Africa) in the Exceptional Category, is a past winner of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) Top CA(SA) under 35 Award, and has received many other recognitions such as API Top Africa Real Estate CEO in 2020 and 2023.