Issue number 5 of Inside|Out focuses on new ways of financing social impact. These new ways – including impact bonds, impact investing, venture philanthropy and others – bring together various stakeholders who invest their money, thought, mediation or time into proven projects that deliver financial and social returns. We call this innovative finance. It’s a […]
The Academic – Dr Stephanie Giampocaro, Research Director and senior lecturer, UCT Graduate School of Business “Innovative finance – which in Africa today mainly takes the form of impact investing and Impact Bonds – is changing traditional ways of conceiving and practicing investment. Through the Bertha Centre’s recently published African Investing for Impact Barometer, we’ve […]
Innovative finance is a new and growing field. It’s also the source of many questions, like how is it defined? How is it practiced, internationally and in South Africa? What are the challenges and points of debate? Who’s doing it? And how can other players get involved? Let’s look it up. Innovative finance is like […]
What is it? It’s a growing field of financial and social innovation. In short, it is, “investment where specific social objectives are set and measured,” says Sir Ronald Cohen, chairman of the International Social Impact Investment Taskforce, formed at the G8 Social Impact Investment Forum in June 2013. This is an important point: in order […]
There is great potential for innovative financing in South Africa. As the country has moved towards middle-income status, donor capital has decreased and the government has become responsible for greater shares of service-delivery spending. Also, citizens are increasingly holding government to account for these services, so provincial and national departments will need to seek out […]
Innovative finance is not limited to a specific society, sector or need. Players from various sectors tell us how they use it in their work. Housing / The Kuyasa Fund A social development organisation that aims to improve the quality of housing in South Africa by providing micro-finance to low-income homeowners who are excluded from […]
The numbers are telling. While 86.9% of organisations in South Africa’s development sector consider impact measurement a crucial process, a whole 61.7% of them recognise that they don’t do enough of it. Let’s think about why this may be. And while we’re at it, let’s look at some impact-measurement case studies and practical tips on […]
If you’re paralysed by the belief that your work is “unmeasurable” or by the fear of not being sufficiently accurate, you will never start the process of understanding your impact. Choosing what to measure Also, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to evaluation. Different development projects require different tactics – which is also true for their […]
1. Include M&E as part of the project plan Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) doesn’t have to be long and intensive. It can be streamlined and built into your programme for more efficiency. 2. Advocate for M&E You have many more chances of achieving your intended impact if you start evaluating on day one. Include it […]
Commercial investors are reluctant to invest in early-stage innovations and entrepreneurships in Africa. Why? Because they’re considered too risky. But this particular grant-maker is stepping in to fill the gap. Why? Because it’s worth it. Here’s how venture philanthropy really pays off. Risk is an important part of my job. I’m the executive of Indigo […]
Three years ago the Indigo Trust came in as sole funder of Kenyan farming SMS service, iCow. The trust ended up awarding £87 782 in total, but the company now has 150 000 users and a signed deal with the country’s largest mobile operator Safaricom. Founder of iCow, Su Kahumbu, tells us more… “We provide […]
Drones. Grain silos. Biogas. These Kenyan innovations are having great impact both on the ground and in the air. They work because they find answers to local challenges from inside the sectors and communities they serve. Community slaughterhouse turns waste into portable biogas Michael Njau laments the fact that Kenya’s economic growth strategy does not […]
Community silos benefit farmers and food security The East African Grain Council recently announced that post-harvest losses in the region are estimated at Ksh 134.4 billion (or US $1.6 million) a year. That’s almost equivalent to the total food aid received in East Africa annually! Poor transportation, drying and storage, pest infestation, disease and market […]
Local journalists use drones to elevate African news Some call them Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), others prefer Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), but we’ll just call them drones. The technology is a touch controversial because of its military origin. But drones are also useful for civilian purposes – one of which is improving journalism and reporting, […]
Civil society activists in Johannesburg are usually associated with protest marches, T-shirts with cool slogans, and Braamfontein. As CEO of the South African Human Rights Commission, I attend meetings instead of marches and wear, not T-shirts, but pinstripe suits. Do we have anything in common? The one thing I have in common with my civil […]
Sometimes, I can’t help but wonder if there’s a disconnect between our values and our money. I’m a senior lecturer at the UCT Graduate School of Business. Every year when the time comes to review my retirement fund, I wonder why, despite the fact that I’m currently working for one of the most dynamic and […]
For all the excitement about innovation in Africa, one cannot simply use it to “leapfrog” over all problems. And where does that leave the role of society and state? First, some questions: 1 Is the term “innovation” being abused in the contemporary African growth story? 2 How do tech-based innovations and other “leapfrogs” relate to […]
The CeaseFire concept was imported from the US to clean up crime in Cape Town’s notorious suburb, Hanover Park. But local context and community involvement is making the project especially successful in this locale. And so is an approach that treats it like a brand… and like a gang. The problem of gangsterism is a […]
Clearly, violence seriously undermines the development of many low- and middle-income communities and countries. But violence prevention requires significant resources to be holistically and appropriately applied. Interventions for prisoner rehabilitation and gangster reform are complex creatures that require effort from various levels of government, society and the business community. In the South African prisoner reintegration […]
