Fijian Holdings: Fiji’s indigenous investor

Fijian Holdings’ portfolio of assets is diverse, across tourism, finance, retail, manufacturing, building services and media. Its two largest shareholders are landowner entities, the iTaukei Affairs Board and the iTaukei Trust Fund Board, which between them control over two-thirds of its shares.

A signature recent investment has been the 18-storey FHL Tower in downtown Suva, which opened in October 2025 and is now fully tenanted, according to FHL’s Group Chief Executive Officer Jaoji Koroi.

The recently opened FHL Tower in Suva. Credit: BAI

“We have high-quality tenants. The challenge for us now is to make sure that we deliver in terms of the services that we provide as landlord, so we’re reinvesting in that and setting standards,” he tells Business Advantage Fiji. “We have a lot of land that’s earmarked for development, but at this stage we want to stabilise the earnings from this development first, and make sure it operates properly.”

In some ways, the long-awaited opening of the FHL Tower marks the end of a busy period of expansion for the group.

“Post-Covid, the theme for our strategic plan was growing into new frontiers in pursuit of our purpose. So, we were challenging our subsidiaries to grow, reinvest in the business, and look at new areas to grow into,” says Koroi.

“I’m pleased that, in the last three years, the group has made investments totalling over F$487 million – including the expansion in Merchant Finance’s loan portfolio.”

Looking forward, Koroi sees opportunities in helping landowners developing housing on their land – something Merchant Finance, one of 14 subsidiary businesses owned by FHL, is well placed to assist with by providing housing loans.

FHL already has two existing joint ventures with landowners for property development, and more are planned.

“The housing market in Fiji is underdeveloped – there’s a lot of space there – and it’s an area that I think will have a strong impact for Fiji in the future,” he says.

The group is also moving into the development of smaller hotels in the Yasawa Islands, to expand and support its tourism-related businesses such as inter-island marine logistics business South Sea Cruises.

“South Sea Cruises has done a lot of re-investment in the last few years, changing their fleet and also developing new products,” he explains.

“A small boutique hotel has already been acquired, one is under development, and two more are in the planning stage. One of those at the planning stage is quite huge, for us – more than 100 rooms.”

In a strategic move in February 2026, FHL acquired an additional 23.5 per cent equity interest in another key tourism asset, Port Denarau Marina Limited, from Skeggs Group Limited.

The group is also making a F$40 million investment to upgrade Fiji’s largest cement mill, run by its Pacific Cement subsidiary, in anticipation of higher demand in coming years.

“Infrastructure in Fiji clearly needs to be taken to the next stage – whether it’s water, electricity, housing, roads or ports – and they all need cement,” says Koroi.

This article appears in the 2026/27 edition of Business Advantage Fiji published in August 2026. Read the full edition here.