SLR Acquires Anchor Environmental Consultants to Strengthen Marine and Natural Capital Advisory Capabilities in Africa

SLR has acquired Anchor Environmental Consultants, a specialist marine and natural capital consultancy headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa, significantly expanding its capabilities in marine and coastal development advisory, natural capital accounting and biodiversity assessment across the African continent and internationally. Anchor, founded in the 1990s by Barry Clark and Jane Turpie, comprises more than 45 highly skilled professionals working from Cape Town and a satellite office in Windhoek, Namibia, and has built an international reputation for excellence in ecological, social and economic assessment, ecosystem services evaluation and natural capital accounting. The acquisition formalises a long-standing partnership between the two firms, which have collaborated on major projects across Southern Africa including environmental and social impact assessment work for green hydrogen and ammonia developments, mining, infrastructure, offshore gas and offshore wind projects.

 

Anchor's Capabilities and Market Position

 

Anchor advises governments, development agencies, NGOs, mining, energy, fisheries, aquaculture and port development companies alongside international finance institutions, giving it a client base that spans both the public interest and commercial project development sectors. The firm operates a marine taxonomy laboratory in Cape Town that is a current member of the North Atlantic Marine Biological Analytical Quality Control Scheme, providing analytical quality assurance credentials that are important for clients requiring scientifically defensible data for regulatory submissions and environmental assessments. Anchor also maintains extensive marine field sampling capabilities including a large team of certified scientific divers, dive supervisors, small craft skippers and scientific staff with inshore and offshore survey experience, giving SLR direct access to a rare combination of laboratory and field science capacity on the African continent.

 

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Jane Turpie, former Chief Executive Officer of Anchor and now Business Unit Director for SLR's Environmental Sciences unit, said joining the SLR global network significantly enhances Anchor's reach and capabilities, enabling improved client service and increased impact in the marine science, natural capital and environmental economics and policy space. She said both organisations share core values centred on delivering high-quality scientific and technical advice derived from data-driven analyses and expressed confidence that the combined offering will strengthen capacity to guide both private and public sector activities along a sustainable development path across the continent and beyond. The retention of Turpie in a senior leadership role provides continuity of scientific expertise and client relationships during the integration.

 

Strategic Rationale for SLR

 

Tasman Graham, SLR's Managing Director for the Middle East and Africa, said the integration of Anchor strengthens SLR's position as a leading provider of services in estuarine, coastal, marine and offshore environments and aligns with SLR's strategy to develop global capability in the ports and marine sector. He described Anchor's work in natural capital as world-class and said the combination will further enhance delivery supported by SLR's strengths in sustainable finance, corporate sustainability, ecology and digital services. The acquisition accelerates SLR's ability to serve clients navigating the increasingly complex intersection of marine development, biodiversity assessment, natural capital valuation and sustainability reporting frameworks including the TNFD.

The timing of the acquisition reflects growing commercial demand for specialist environmental advisory services across Southern Africa's energy transition and infrastructure development pipeline. The region's substantial offshore wind, green hydrogen, port expansion and marine infrastructure development programmes require high-quality environmental and social impact assessment capabilities combined with deep marine science expertise that is difficult to develop organically in short timeframes. Anchor's established reputation and field capabilities in this specific domain represent a strategic asset that SLR could not easily replicate through internal investment alone.

 

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Outlook for Marine and Natural Capital Advisory in Africa

 

The SLR and Anchor combination arrives at a moment when natural capital assessment, biodiversity impact evaluation and ecosystem services accounting are moving from voluntary best practice into core requirements for project financing and regulatory approval across multiple sectors. International finance institutions are increasingly requiring natural capital assessments that go beyond conventional ecological impact assessment to quantify the economic value of ecosystem services at risk from development activities, and TNFD-aligned disclosure requirements are creating corporate demand for the same type of analysis at portfolio level. Anchor's track record in ecosystem services assessment and natural capital accounting positions the combined firm to serve both the project-level and corporate-level demand for these capabilities.

Whether SLR can successfully integrate Anchor's scientific culture and specialist capabilities while expanding the combined offering into new geographies and client segments will determine the long-term value of the acquisition. Sustained integration would establish SLR as one of the leading environmental advisory firms for marine, coastal and natural capital work across the African continent and provide a platform for growth as offshore energy development, port modernisation and sustainability reporting requirements intensify across the region. The convergence of offshore wind expansion, green hydrogen development, TNFD adoption and natural capital finance creates a structurally favourable environment for specialist marine and natural capital consultancies in Southern and East Africa.

 

 

Source: SLR Consulting