Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po made her first kauwhau (address) to the motu (nation) as part of Te Koroneihana celebrations. Photo / The Office of the Kiingitanga
Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po made her first kauwhau (address) to the motu (nation) as part of Te Koroneihana celebrations. Photo / The Office of the Kiingitanga
THE FACTS
The $40 million Kotahitanga Fund aims to help Māori achieve economic independence and resilience.
Kuini Arikinui Nga wai hono i te po announced the fund earlier this month.
Waikato-Tainui, with a $2 billion balance sheet, is pursuing global investment opportunities.
The $40 million fund announced by Kuini Arikinui Nga wai hono i te po earlier this month is just the start of where Māori and her Waikato-Tainui iwi want to be on the New Zealand economic ladder and global indigenous stage.
Nga wai hono i te po, theMāori Queen, made her announcement at Tūrangawaewae Marae in Ngāruawahia earlier this month as part of the commemoration of the first anniversary of the death of her father, Kingi Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero VII.
It was her first public speech since her coronation.
Waikato-Tainui iwi leader Tuku Morgan earlier told the thousands of Kingitanga supporters and dignitaries that Waikato-Tainui was open for business.
Iwi leader Tuku Morgan says Waikato-Tainui is on the move in business.
The Kotahitanga Fund is a new investment backed by Waikato-Tainui capital and co-investors. How best to utilise those funds will be on the agenda at a Māori economic summit later this year.
Its intention is primarily to help Māori achieve economic independence and resilience by managing their own affairs and creating sovereign wealth, without a government handout or interference.
This is part of the iwi’s desire to build scale and the start of a conversation about establishing a worldwide indigenous investment fund.
Because of its strong balance sheet, Waikato-Tainui distributed about $56m among the 68 marae in its rohe (region) last year.
Māori Queen Te Arikinui Nga wai hono i te po was hosted at te Koroneihana at Tūrangawaewae Marae.
Waikato-Tainui, which has a balance sheet of more than $2b, now has the resources and mana to identify potential opportunities it sees fit to follow, wherever that financial pathway may take it.
The iwi is no longer dependent on the Crown and is forging its future nationally with other iwi and globally with major international brands and organisations.
A month before the Māori Queen’s announcement, Morgan and fellow iwi leaders Bayden Barber from Ngāti Kahungunu, Jason Tipa from Ngāi Tahu and Northland’s Pita Tipene were part of a New Zealand trade expo delegation to Japan.
The Sky Tree in Tokyo.
They were investigating possible deals with like-minded sovereign nations and indigenous peoples who are in control of big funds.
In New Zealand, Tainui then met officials from Samsung and Hyundai and a Fijian delegation. Other prominent offshore potential investors had also been in contact.
The Māori economy is growing rapidly and will increase further as more iwi settle their Treaty of Waitangi claims and look at how they can best invest for their futures.
Waikato-Tainui and Ngāi Tahu settled their grievances in 1995 and are now at the forefront of leading Māori business at home and abroad.
