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About the IMPACT Programme

The IMPACT Programme aims to strengthen the impact investing sector to help address the world’s social and environmental challenges, as set out by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  

Impact investment is a way that investors can not only make positive financial returns on their investments, but also support businesses to make a measurable contribution towards the achievement of the SDGs.

Rather than investing directly, the Programme delivers grants and technical assistance to organisations with the power to build the impact investing sector. 

Over time, the IMPACT Programme expects to see more investors entering the impact investing sector, leading to increased levels of investment in high-impact businesses.  This will help those businesses to grow in size and scale, create new quality jobs, bring more products and services, and greater access to markets for poor communities in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. By managing impact performance, as well as financial performance, this can also help create and improve positive impact, for example, by further reducing reliance on natural resources, creativity and employment.

Our focus areas

The Programme supports a portfolio of initiatives that contribute to four priorities. Together these support the growth of the market by:

  • Helping businesses and investors to measure and report on their impact to their shareholders and stakeholders. For example, see IMP
  • Creating new tools and services which help investors to make more investments in high-impact businesses, in locations and sectors which find it difficult to attract investment. For example, see Athena
  • Developing new financial products to better meet the needs of both investors and businesses and that help to increase the availability of capital to high-impact businesses. For example, see ILX Fund
  • Building awareness and understanding of impact investing to encourage more actors into the market. For example, see the Global Steering Group for Impact Investing (GSG)

 Who we work with

The Programme looks for partners with the network, skills, and expertise to create positive change in the impact investment sector. Any organisation with relevant market experience, promising ideas, and a valid legal registration is eligible for funding. The Programme does not normally invest in individual businesses or in impact investing funds.

How funding decisions are made

The Programme periodically reaches out to potential partners through its network and it may also issues calls for concept notes and proposals from the sector. The Programme is unable to accept unsolicited proposals.