Jacana makes first investment in East Africa VC fund manager

1 September 2010
Alliance magazine

Jacana Venture Partnership announced at the end of June its first investment in an African venture capital (VC) fund manager, InReturn Capital, an East African SME investment firm based in Kenya. SMEs are generally acknowledged as crucial motors for economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa, but access to finance is a major obstacle to their growth.

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Transporte público sostenible para todos
Nancy Kete

Transporte público sostenible para todos

Nancy Kete
1 July 2010
Alliance Español

Fundado en el año 2001, con una inversión inicial de la Fundación Shell, EMBARQ (el Centro para el Transporte Sostenible del Instituto Mundial de Recursos) intenta catalizar soluciones sostenibles, con un enfoque medioambiental y financiero, para la contaminación, la congestión del tránsito y otros problemas vinculados con el transporte en ciudades de países en desarrollo. Click here to read ...


Sustainable public transport for all
Nancy Kete

Sustainable public transport for all

Nancy Kete
1 June 2010
Alliance magazine

Founded in 2001, with an initial investment from the Shell Foundation, EMBARQ – the World Resources Institute Center for Sustainable Transport aims to catalyse environmentally and financially sustainable solutions to pollution, traffic congestion and other transport-related problems in cities in developing countries. After seven years of operation, it had already leveraged some $16 million in grant money into $886 million in projects that have provided high-quality, affordable public transport in some of the largest cities of the developing world.

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VisionSpring and BRAC: scale through partnership

1 June 2010
Alliance magazine

VisionSpring’s founding idea is that putting local women in business could be a scalable, sustainable way to bring affordable glasses to the millions of impoverished people across the developing world in need of eyecare. Its original business model rested on empowering a direct sales force of ‘Vision Entrepreneurs’ with the organization’s signature ‘Business in a Bag’, a micro-franchise kit that had everything an individual would need to sell spectacles.

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Bring on the social stock exchange
Mark Campanale

Bring on the social stock exchange

Mark Campanale
1 June 2010
Alliance magazine

Stagecoach Theatre Arts Schools plc, Parry People Movers, Good Energy plc, Radicle Projects, Eaga plc and Adilli are all social businesses that have chosen to ‘go public’ and be listed on a stock exchange. The surprising thing is not that these social enterprises have decided to try to raise the long-term financing they need from private capital but that so few have taken this path. Click here to read ...


Investors' Perspectives - Is more debt the answer?
Clara Miller

Investors' Perspectives - Is more debt the answer?

Clara Miller
1 June 2010
Alliance magazine

The social capital market is revving up in the wake of the spectacular nosedive of the global capital market. In the US, a number of foundations are exploring philanthropic debt for the first time, providing PRIs (programme-related investments, generally loans made from the grant budget) and MDIs (mission-driven investments, including loans and equity investments in both for-profits and non-profits, sometimes from the endowment itself).

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Social Investment Exchange to launch in Kenya

1 March 2010
Alliance magazine

There is a clear need for an institutional structure to lead, coordinate and expand the development of Kenya’s social investment sector. With this in mind, Allavida, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, has embarked on the establishment of the Kenya Social Investment Exchange (KSIX), the first social investment exchange in East Africa, to be launched later this year. KSIX aims to promote the growth of social investment in three important ways.

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PHINEO_Logo

PHINEO provides information for social investors in Germany

1 March 2010
Alliance magazine

The Bertelsmann Stiftung, in cooperation with a number of other interested entities, has launched PHINEO to provide guidance for German social investors on how best to invest their money. Based on the UK’s New Philanthropy Capital model, PHINEO was registered as a charitable, listed company under German law in December 2009; it will become operational on 1 April this year.

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Is this Oxfam?
Malcolm Fleming

Is this Oxfam?

Malcolm Fleming
1 December 2009
Alliance magazine

When you think of Oxfam, you probably think of aid and grants. There is certainly a place for that in humanitarian and campaigning contexts, but does ‘free money’ provide the right incentives when applied to economic development and sustainable livelihoods? Alliance invited Oxfam’s Malcolm Fleming to talk about the charity’s Enterprise Development Programme and how it blends commercial and social approaches to deliver sustainable change.

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Investors’ Perspectives - Taking risks
Maureen Stapleton

Investors’ Perspectives - Taking risks

Maureen Stapleton
1 December 2009
Alliance magazine

Is taking a risk with an impact investment different from taking a risk with a traditional investment? At Bank underground station, in the heart of London’s financial district, there are several billboards advertising a variety of investments to travellers. All of them have the same caveat at the bottom: Please note the value of an investment can go up as well as down, and the value of the investment is not guaranteed.

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