Measurement woes test Africa's 'impact' investors

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Financial Return ◽  
Impact Investing ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Corporate Growth ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Asset Classes ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Policy Agendas ◽  
The Impact

Subject Impact investment trends in Africa. Significance 'Impact' investments are defined as generating social and environmental impact alongside a financial return. As the development industry landscape shifts, such investments are increasingly targeting sub-Saharan African (SSA) markets, especially in finance, energy and agriculture sectors. As of end-2014, an estimated 50 billion dollars had been invested in the space globally. Although this is a fraction of the 62.3 trillion dollars in private global assets under management across products, the 'impact' sector is expanding across asset classes and gradually moving into the financial mainstream. Impacts Impact investing reflects wider policy and industry recognition of the private sector's role in meeting development goals. Donor austerity keeps this on policy agendas, but developmental bottlenecks are increasingly seen as hurting corporate growth plans too. SSA governments welcome this approach, particularly given financing innovation through public-private partnerships.

Impact investing in South Africa: managing tensions between financial returns and social impact

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 397-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eunivicia Matlhogonolo Mogapi ◽  
Margaret Mary Sutherland ◽  
Anthony Wilson-Prangley
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Financial Returns ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Financial Return ◽  
Impact Investing ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Impact investment is an emergent field worldwide and it can play an especially important role in Africa. The aim of this study was to examine how impact investors in South Africa manage the tensions between financial returns and social impact. Design/methodology/approach The research was based on 15 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders in the impact investment community in South Africa to understand the related challenges, trade-offs and tensions. Findings There are two opposing views expressed as to whether the tensions between financial return and social impact result in trade-offs. It is proposed that impact investors embrace this duality and seek to approach it through a contingency and a paradox view. The tensions can be approached by focussing on values alignment, contracting processes, engaged leadership and sector identification. The authors integrate the findings into a proposed framework for effective tension management in an impact investment portfolio. Research limitations/implications This study was limited to selected South African interviewees. It would be valuable to extend the study to other African countries. Practical implications The issue of values alignment between investors, fund managers and investee firms is an important finding for practice. As is the four-part iterative framework for sensing the operating environment, defining impact, organising internally and defining the investment approach. Originality/value This study contributes empirical evidence to scholarship around organisational tensions, especially work in hybrid organisations. It affirms the value of a nuanced application of paradox theory. It examines these tensions through the lived experience of impact investing professionals in an emerging market context.

Marketing to the “middle of the pyramid” in emerging markets using a social network perspective

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 400-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tendai Chikweche ◽  
Richard Fletcher
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Business Executives ◽  
Advanced Economies ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to expand knowledge about how middle class consumers in Sub-Saharan African markets behave, focusing on the potential role of social networks and the subsequent interactions that take place between these consumers and firms. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative research method approach comprising personal interviews and observations targeted at consumers and business executives was used covering all four countries. Findings – Key findings include identification of middle of the pyramid (MOP) social networks, their impact on consumer behaviour and nature of consumer and firm interactions that take place as a result of the impact of social networks. Research limitations/implications – The sample size was restricted to 80 consumers in each of the four countries. This might limit generalisability. Practical implications – The study provides managers with insights on the potential role of social networks on marketing to the MOP in Africa. Social implications – The study provides managers with insights on the potential opportunities for corporate social responsibility solutions at the MOP. Originality/value – Research into the middle class in markets other than western advanced economies is a relatively new area of study. The majority of studies on the middle class have focused on North America and Europe ignoring the merging middle class in Africa. Hence, this research expands knowledge by providing basis for exploring new insights on the emerging marketing opportunity within the middle class in Africa.

Promprylad.Renovation: impact investing in emerging markets

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Yaryna Boychuk ◽  
Artem Kornetskyy ◽  
Liudmyla Kryzhanovska ◽  
Andrew Rozhdestvensky ◽  
Yaryna Stepanyuk
Keyword(s):  
Learning Outcomes ◽  
Theory Of Change ◽  
Financial Benefit ◽  
Impact Investing ◽  
Stanford Research Institute ◽  
Content Type ◽  
State Sector ◽  
Academic Level ◽  
The Impact

Learning outcomes The learning outcomes of this paper is as follows: to structure the impact investing phenomenon and distinguish it from traditional investing or philanthropy, including the motivation of investors in impact investing projects; to analyse stakeholders in impact investing projects according to four main categories; to structure the implementation model of the theory of change in the context of impact investing; to build managerial decisions concerning the development of impact investing projects in crisis situations. Case overview/synopsis The case describes the development path of the Promprylad.Renovation project from its concept to the critical moment at the end of 2018. Yuriy Fyliuk – the case protagonist, acts as the main ideologist and leader of the project, the essence of which is the establishment of an innovation centre on the area of the old Promprylad plant in Ivano-Frankivsk. Impact investing was selected as the main project development tool, as it allows for attracting investors who share the aspiration for positive change of the city and potential financial benefit. The project is implemented in several stages as follows: partner involvement (Insha Osvita, MitOst, Pact Ukraine and LvBS), vision finalisation and research (together with Stanford Research Institute, Zotov & Co, FORMA Architects, Moris Group, etc.), the launch of the pilot floor (attracting more than $683,000 from allocated grants and more than $590,000 of private investments). Open equity crowdfunding and the purchase of the entire plant, with its subsequent renovation, should be the next stage. As of 2017, agreements have been reached to pay fully for the purchase of the plant by the end of 2019. After a successful pilot and lengthy negotiations, it was agreed that $1,000,000 should be paid by the end of 2018 and $2,000,000 by the end of 2019 to complete the buyout. However, as of the end of 2018, martial law was proclaimed in Ukraine. Hence, considering the risks, a major US investor refuses to contribute. The main dilemma is either to find a suitable solution to complete the buyout of the plant or to stop the project. Complexity academic level This case can be used in the master’s programmes of business schools (MBA, Executive MBA, Entrepreneurship, etc.), as well as in training programmes for public and state sector managers. The case study will be particularly useful for mixed groups with representatives from different sectors of the economy. This case study might be taught in the following disciplines: social entrepreneurship, social investing, leadership and crisis management. The subject of impact investing allows recognition of the benefits of combined cross-sectoral efforts over joint projects. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 7: Management science.

Reducing corruption and bribery in Africa as a target of the sustainable development goals: applying indicators for assessing performance

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kempe Ronald Hope, Sr.
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Ethical Behaviour ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Illegal Activities

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess African performance for substantially reducing all forms of corruption and bribery on the continent by 2030, through the indicators for achieving Target 16.5 of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the available and accessible relevant data from credible sources, this work quantifies, outlines and analyses the relationship between corruption/bribery and sustainable development as it applies primarily to sub-Saharan Africa; assesses the trends in the region through the official indicators for achieving Target 16.5 of the SDGs; and recommends other indicators for assessing ethical behaviour in African political, administrative and business leadership and institutions for achieving sustainable development and improved ethical performance towards significant reductions in all manifestations of bribery and corruption on the continent by 2030. Findings Corruption and bribery are found to affect all SDG-related sectors, undermining development outcomes and severely compromising efforts to achieve the SDGs in Africa. Consequently, prioritising corruption reduction including from money laundering, bribery and other illegal activities is a necessary requirement for achieving sustainable development, good governance, building effective and inclusive institutions as required by SDG 16, and funding the achievement of the SDGs. Originality/value The main value of the paper is the insights it provides through the very comprehensive compilation of statistical information that quantifies, and with analysis, the corruption/bribery avenues and the resultant deleterious effects on sustainable development in Africa.

Dynamics of capital controls: panel evidence from Asia

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 242-263
Author(s):  
Biplab Kumar Guru ◽  
Inder Sekhar Yadav
Keyword(s):  
Capital Flows ◽  
Capital Controls ◽  
Substitution Effect ◽  
Capital Flight ◽  
Empirical Examination ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Asian Economies ◽  
Asset Classes ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Gross Capital Flows

PurposeThis study empirically examines the effect of capital controls on the volume and composition of capital flows at aggregated as well as at disaggregated level by different asset classes such as debt, FDI, equity, and derivatives.Design/methodology/approachSeveral dynamic panel SYS-GMM models are employed on two sets of unique data on cross-border capital flows and capital control index along with control variables at aggregated and disaggregated level by different asset classes during 1995–2015 for a sample of 31 Asian economies.FindingsEconometric findings suggest that higher capital controls effectively reduce gross capital flows. The reduction in gross capital flows is largely found to be on account of effectiveness of controls on equity flows. However, the impact of controls on overall debt and derivative flows is found to be insignificant. Further, it was found that an increase in direct capital controls disaggregated by inflow and outflow categories significantly reduced the inflow of debt and equity + FDI flows and outflow of equity + FDI and derivative flows. Finally, the study did not find any substitution effect (due to indirect controls) and net effect on capital flows.Practical implicationsResults of such empirical examination may enable governments in respective countries to pursue prudent and rational capital controls as a shield against capital flight and shock transmission.Social implicationsPreventing capital flight through effective controls has macroeconomic benefits such as maintaining stability in income, growth, interest rate, exchange rate, and employment levels for the society.Originality/valueThe primary contribution of the study is the analysis of effectiveness of capital controls disaggregated by different asset categories such as debt, equity, FDI, and derivatives using two unique recent data sets for a large sample of Asian economies.

The contribution of tourism towards a more sustainable and inclusive society: key guiding principles in times of crisis

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 679-689
Author(s):  
Carla Cardoso
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Guiding Principles ◽  
Inclusive Society ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose At a time when tourism is embarking on the path to recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, this paper aims to put forward a set of principles guiding the development of tourism to enable global society to become more inclusive and sustainable. Design/methodology/approach This paper adopted a descriptive design using views and data mainly published by 11 international organisations and specialised agencies between March and mid-June 2020. Content analysis was carried out to enable the research to identify features and the presence of challenges for tourism within international organisations’ documents and leaders’ speeches to compare them. Findings The results revealed that there are five key principles that may have a significant impact on tourism development, suggesting that these could be adopted for building a more inclusive and sustainable economy, while mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 crisis. Practical implications Adopting the five key principles recommended in this paper can help tourism to emerge stronger and in a more sustainable way from COVID-19 or other future crises. Equally, this can incite changes in policies, business practices and consumers’ and locals’ behaviours with a view to building a truly sustainable sector. Originality/value This study helps to reconfirm existing knowledge in the COVID-19 context by highlighting five guiding principles that can help tourism players to respond to this crisis disruption and future ones via transformative innovation. In doing so, these will also be contributing to the achievement of the ideals and aims of the Sustainable Development Goals.

“Does the poor matter” in pro-poor driven sub-Saharan African cities? towards progressive and inclusive pro-poor tourism

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 392-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Regis Musavengane ◽  
Pius Siakwah ◽  
Llewellyn Leonard
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Urban Tourism ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Content Type ◽  
African Cities ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to question the extent to which Sub-Saharan African cities are progressing towards promoting pro-poor economies through pro-poor tourism (PPT). It specifically examines how African cities are resilient towards attaining sustainable urban tourism destinations in light of high urbanization. Design/methodology/approach The methodological framework is interpretive in nature and qualitative in an operational form. It uses meta-synthesis to evaluate the causal relationships observed within Sub-Saharan African pro-poor economies to enhance PPT approaches, using Accra, Ghana, Johannesburg, South Africa, and Harare, Zimbabwe, as case studies. Findings Tourism development in Sub-Saharan Africa has been dominantly underpinned by neoliberal development strategies which threaten the sustainability of tourism in African cities. Research limitations/implications The study is limited to three Sub-Saharan African countries. Further studies may need to be done in other developing countries. Practical implications It argues for good governance through sustainability institutionalization which strengthens the regulative mechanisms, processes and organizational culture. Inclusive tourism approaches that are resilient-centered have the potential to promote urban tourism in Sub-Saharan African cities. These findings contribute to the building of strong and inclusive Institutions for Sustainable Development in the Sub-Saharan African cities to alleviate poverty. Social implications These findings contribute to the building of strong and inclusive institutions for sustainable development in the Sub-Saharan African cities to alleviate poverty. Originality/value The “poor” are always within the communities, and it takes a community to minimise the impact of poverty among the populace. The study is conducted at a pertinent time when most African government’s development policies are pro-poor driven. Though African cities provide opportunities of growth, they are regarded as centres of high inequality.

Innovation, institutions and economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa – an IV estimation of a panel threshold model

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Ato Forson ◽  
Rosemary Afrakomah Opoku ◽  
Michael Owusu Appiah ◽  
Evans Kyeremeh ◽  
Ibrahim Anyass Ahmed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Developing Economies ◽  
Innovation Policy ◽  
Threshold Model ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Panel Regressions ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeThe significant impact of innovation in stimulating economic growth cannot be overemphasized, more importantly from policy perspective. For this reason, the relationship between innovation and economic growth in developing economies such as the ones in Africa has remained topical. Yet, innovation as a concept is multi-dimensional and cannot be measured by just one single variable. With hindsight of the traditional measures of innovation in literature, we augment it with the number of scientific journals published in the region to enrich this discourse.Design/methodology/approachWe focus on an approach that explores innovation policy qualitatively from various policy documents of selected countries in the region from three policy perspectives (i.e. institutional framework, financing and diffusion and interaction). We further investigate whether innovation as perceived differently is important for economic growth in 25 economies in sub-Saharan Africa over the period 1990–2016. Instrumental variable estimation of a threshold regression is used to capture the contributions of innovation as a multi-dimensional concept on economic growth, while dealing with endogeneity between the regressors and error term.FindingsThe results from both traditional panel regressions and IV panel threshold regressions show a positive relationship between innovation and economic growth, although the impact seems negligible. Institutional quality dampens innovation among low-regime economies, and the relation is persistent regardless of when the focus is on aggregate or decomposed institutional factors. The impact of innovation on economic growth in most regressions is robust to different dimensions of innovation. Yet, the coefficients of the innovation variables in the two regimes are quite dissimilar. While most countries in the region have offered financial support in the form of budgetary allocations to strengthen institutions, barriers to the design and implementation of innovation policies may be responsible for the sluggish contribution of innovation to the growth pattern of the region.Originality/valueSegregating economies of Africa into two distinct regimes based on a threshold of investment in education as a share of GDP in order to understand the relationship between innovation and economic growth is quite novel. This lends credence to the fact that innovation as a multifaceted concept does not take place by chance – it is carefully planned. We have enriched the discourse of innovation and thus helped in deepening understanding on this contentious subject.

Does economic freedom improve health outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa?

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (12) ◽  
pp. 1633-1649
Author(s):  
Anand Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Mortality Rate ◽  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Economic Freedom ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The World ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the impact of economic freedom on four key health indicators (namely, life expectancy, infant mortality rate, under-five mortality rate and neonatal mortality rate) by using a panel dataset of 34 sub-Saharan African countries from 2005 to 2016.Design/methodology/approachThe study obtains data from the World Development Indicators (WDI) of the World Bank and the Fraser Institute. It uses fixed effects regression to estimate the effect of economic freedom on health outcomes and attempts to resolve the endogeneity problems by using two-stage least squares regression (2SLS).FindingsThe results indicate a favourable impact of economic freedom on health outcomes. That is, higher levels of economic freedom reduce mortality rates and increase life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa. All areas of economic freedom, except government size, have a significant and positive effect on health outcomes.Research limitations/implicationsThis study analyses the effect of economic freedom on health at a broad level. Country-specific studies at a disaggregated level may provide additional information about the impact of economic freedom on health outcomes. Also, this study does not control for some important variables such as education, income inequality and foreign aid due to data constraints.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that sub-Saharan African countries should focus on enhancing the quality of economic institutions to improve their health outcomes. This may include policy reforms that support a robust legal system, protect property rights, promote free trade and stabilise the macroeconomic environment. In addition, policies that raise urbanisation, increase immunisation and lower the incidence of HIV are likely to produce a substantial improvement in health outcomes.Originality/valueExtant economic freedom-health literature does not focus on endogeneity problems. This study uses instrumental variables regression to deal with endogeneity. Also, this is one of the first attempts to empirically investigate the relationship between economic freedom and health in the case of sub-Saharan Africa.

scholarly journals Mirroring the zeitgeist: an analysis of CSR policies in the UK’s food, soft drink and packaging industries

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martina Topić ◽  
Gemma Bridge ◽  
Ralph Tench
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Soft Drink ◽  
Soft Drinks ◽  
Pay Gap ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Consumer Activism ◽  
Modern Slavery ◽  
Packaging Industry ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore changes in corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies in food, soft drinks and packaging industries to capture changes in CSR implementation given increased environmental activism. The paper takes an exploratory approach in reviewing CSR policy changes to explore to what extent companies change CSR policies with increased environmentalism. Design/methodology/approach A comparative website analysis was used to analyse CSR policies of companies in the food, soft drinks and packaging industries in the UK. The companies were selected for the analysis based on their annual turnover and 23 companies were analysed (seven for the soft drinks industry, eight for the food industry and eight for packaging industry). Five interviews were conducted with packaging and retail professionals, and the findings were analysed by using thematic analysis, which captured trends in responses. Findings The findings show that companies are implementing and communicating CSR policies heavily focussed on reducing the environmental impact of their work and matching social debates on human rights, with which traditional CSR policies (corporate governance, supporting local communities and consultation with stakeholders) are fading away. Instead, companies have shifted attention towards the gender pay gap, modern slavery and extensive environmentalism. The interviews with packaging professionals and CSR managers from the retail industry show that the packaging industry designs CSR policies in line with requests from supermarkets, which are, in turn, influenced by consumer activism. Practical implications This paper shows the circular relationship between media coverage, consumer activism, which comes as a result, and the impact and changes this brings to the industry. To avoid reputation damage, companies should closely follow media debates to pre-empty consumer criticism and activism. Social implications The findings show that companies are “mirroring the zeitgast” and going with trends to meet consumer expectations, which brings into question the sincerity of CSR policies and revives the criticism of capitalism and raises a question whether CSR is used by companies as a smokescreen that on the outset makes a difference to the society but keeps status quo intact. Originality/value The paper provides an insight into CSR implementation of three industries that faced heavy criticism from campaigners and the general public for their environmental impact. The paper shows how the CSR policy shifted to match this expectation and thus provides a good ground for studying the evolution of CSR using a case study from three selected industries.

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