A Spotlight On Africa
AVPA is launching the 2022 Africa Impact Investing Fellowship to nurture deployers of impact capital – Grants, Debt, and Equity – into becoming more effective impact investing practitioners. This Fellowship will build the capacity and knowledge of Fellows in areas such as Innovative Finance, Impact Measurement and Management, and Leadership in Complexity. The Fellowship aims to ultimately increase the flow of social investment capital into Africa.
About The Fellowship
The Fellowship will select individuals in Africa who embody the values and skills needed to develop a strong impact investing sector. The programme will equip the Fellows with the right information and resources, knowledge, networks, and insight on how to build an impact strategy, manage a portfolio, define, evaluate and manage impact, among other skills. The Fellowship runs from late September to early December.
Why It Is Necessary
Impact investing is at its nascent stage in Africa. Although it is now getting an increasing level of attention from various actors in the social investment ecosystem, only a handful of impact funds and foundations are actually practising impact investing. The obstacles that are hindering impact investing from gaining traction in Africa amongst wealth holders and their advisors include the lack of capacity building programmes, the perception that it will necessitate a trade-off on financial returns, a lack of an investment-ready pipeline, inexperience in managing a portfolio, and the complexities in defining and evaluating impact measurement.
Fellowship Criteria
To qualify for the Fellowship, one has to be deploying capital along the Continuum of Capital – Grants, Debt and Equity. The potential applicants would ideally come from Foundations, DFIs, Private Equity and Venture Capital Funds, Family Offices, (I)NGOs, Aid Agencies, Governments, Corporates, Incubators, and Accelerators; those who have access to capital, or have responsibility for investment portfolios and are used to managing assets of High Net Worth Individuals, families or funds. These individuals are either deploying or intend to deploy capital with an impact investing lens in Africa.
Please register your interest by filling out this form. Applications close on August 19, 2022. The Fellowship costs USD 1500 to be paid in full upon acceptance.
