Currently, foundations and DFIs are playing the leading roles financing the region’s development, and as they shift their approach to more innovative financing models that delivers both financial returns as well as social and/or environment impacts, there is a need and growing demand by key actors for more private sector investors especially High-Net-Worth Individuals, Ultra High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNWIs & UHNWIs) and Institutional Investors to be more committed to impact investing.

Inside the minds of investors attracted to the region’s high growth opportunities and the concept of doing well by doing good, are concerns about accessing sustainable investment opportunities, how to exit their investments and finding reliable asset managers especially financial advisors with the relevant skills, experience and proven track record to advise and guide them in investing for impact.

On the demand-side, a growing number of African and non-African entrepreneurs and project owners with sustainable and innovative businesses that solves the region’s local challenges need growth capital from investors, co-investors and new partners to scale their projects.

Among the issues each stakeholder encounter and would like addressed: whether it is the lack of familiarity on the side of HNWIs & UHNWIs, or lack of awareness by entrepreneurs about the indicators investors require for measuring their impact; or the challenges faced by financial advisors in understanding the complexities; or foundations and family offices concerns about identifying and choosing the right specialists, the Africa Impact Investing Leaders Forum aim to simplify all these difficulties by bringing together the key stakeholders to discuss their challenges, share experiences, case-studies and best practices, then discover new opportunities, new partnerships in new regions.

Register your interest now and join key decision makers with the various industry players to update your knowledge, gain insights and identify opportunities. Download the agenda now: http://aiilf.com/brochure/

Then, join the growing number of your peers and key stakeholders in the new Africa Impact Investing forum here on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8459007

Have an innovative and sustainable solution for Africa’s challenges and need investors or co-investors to scale? Submit your business project free at: http://aiilf.com/invitation-to-high-impact-entrepreneurs/

If you have a fund and you are looking for investors or co-investors as well, kindly get in touch here http://aiilf.com/contact/

As we commit to helping in mainstreaming impact investing, which focuses on finding effective ways to utilise market-based solutions to address or eradicate extreme poverty, we enjoin you to kindly support this initiative, share this post to your networks, colleagues and organisations that it might be of interest to.

NB: 200+ participants including institutional and private investors, financial advisors, entrepreneurs, government officials, MFIs, NGOs attended the launch event which was held at Google campus London, view some photos here:  http://aiilf.com/photos/

For more information, please visit: http://aiilf.com/

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. Please kindly share and retweet.

By Ernest Okwudike, CEO, Alliance 54

Connect with him on Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/pub/ernest-okwudike/2b/645/5a7

Often they’re not sure how to do this, so that effectively their money ends up leading a schizophrenic life , Most of their money is utilized in order to generate the best return possible (typically , either through equity investments, or in real estate); and a small proportion is used for philanthropy or charity. However, they are never sure whether this money is being utilised effectively, because there has been little transparency when grants are provided to NGOs, who often do a poor job with documentation and reporting.

This approach is not very efficient or effective, because this reduces the amount of money which they can deploy for philanthropy. This bothers them, because they understand that they are not doing a good job at giving back to society.

It’s now time for an integrated holistic approach, and the good news is that there are now lots of impact investing success stories . This new area gives sophisticated, mature investors a chance to make sure that their money doesn’t only provide a financial return, but also creates social impact – it allows them to get the biggest bang for their buck ! This is an ecosystem which has gradually been maturing over the last 20 years, and it’s just a matter of time till it becomes mainstream. There are now lots of structured financial products within the impact investment space , which are ripe for investment. Not only do these provide a financial return, they allow investors to engage with young social entrepreneurs who are out to change the world.

It can be very gratifying to see that your money is having a positive impact. Even better, this impact will outlive you, because these social enterprises are designed to be scaleable and sustainable . These innovative entrepreneurs need capital to catalyze their dreams, and you can help these dreams to come to fruition. The good news is that you don’t even need to settle for less than market returns ! In fact , some of these investments in social impact companies will give far better financial returns, because they multiply the advantages of human capital, social capital, as well as financial capital.

It’s also a very sensible tool for asset allocation , because the returns you get from these companies is completely uncorrelated with the rest of your investments . This is a great opportunity for diversification. Not only does it make a lot of sense from a personal financial engineering perspective, it also helps you to sleep better at night, knowing that you’re giving back to a society which has given so much to you.

I think this is a great opportunity for wealth managers as well , who need to start understanding that people have a deep emotional connection with their money. Their job is not just to manage the client’s money, it’s also to manage the client ! When clients get a positive kick out of the fact that their money is actually being utilized to do good for the community, they feel good about themselves , and they feel good about their money as well. This is specially true for older and more mature clients, as they reach the evening of their life , because they want to help leave the world a better place. Wealth managers need to learn more about this space so that they can offer this new asset class to their clients. This can become a valuable USP for a forward-thinking  financial advisor !

By Dr. Malpani, Director, Solidarity Investment Advisors