Publication database

The GIIN estimates the size of the worldwide impact investing market to be USD 1.164 trillion, marking the first time that the organization’s widely-cited estimate has topped the USD 1 trillion mark. The report, which was produced with the financial support of Nuveen, also spotlights two areas of development in the market that are becoming increasingly prevalent: green bonds and corporate impact investing.

Africa has long been on the frontier of the global investment landscape and still accounts for a small share of the world economy. But looking ahead, we see a range of fundamental supports for economic activity and prospective investment returns on the continent. This reports outlines the growth story in sub-Saharan Africa and begin to uncover some of the key investment themes that are developing across the region.

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the current size and composition of the impact investing market. The GIIN estimates the current size of the global impact investing market to be $502 billion. Based on the collation of AUM data on more than 1,300 impact investors around the world, this research also underscores the diversity of the market, capturing data from many types of investors. These include asset managers, foundations, banks, development finance institutions, family offices, pension funds, insurance companies, and others. 

The Impact investing market map, provides three basic but crucial benefits to the impact investing industry: (1) a common definition of a thematic investment that is aligned with at least one international organisation, global market leader and/or data provider; (2) basic criteria that explain a theme in practical terms, including thematic and financial conditions to identify specific businesses and investments aligned with the definition provided;  (3) a list of KPIs used by the impact investing community to track and assess the environmental and social performance of a specific theme.

This presentation makes a case for an Indian-Japanese partnership for collaborative investments into African projects.

The South African Business Development Services Provider (BDSP) space is active and growing. In an effort to deepen understanding of the incubator and accelerator landscape in South Africa, ANDE hosted a series of breakfast roundtables in Johannesburg and Cape Town in 2017 and 2018. Discussions focused on gathering qualitative information regarding key activities and services, programme structure and funding sources, as well as challenges and opportunities faced by BDSPs. This document presents an overview of the key findings from the roundtables and provides recommendations for further research.

This working paper aims to expand the evidence-base around the potential for blended finance to narrow the SDG funding gap. It provides an analysis of Convergence's dataset of nearly 200 blended finance transactions which have mobilised more than $50 billion towards sustainable development. The analysis shows that the number of blended finance deals is increasing each year. The working paper also provides a useful map of the key organisations active in the blended finance ecosystem (including private investors, multilateral and bilateral development banks and donors).

The entrepreneurial ecosystem snapshot provides insights about the business environment, local support systems, and entrepreneurial intermediaries in and around Lagos and Abuja (Nigeria) and Accra (Ghana). It maps organizations that support small and growing businesses, and identifies gaps, challenges, and opportunities within the entrepreneurial ecosystem in these locations.

This report is the first in a series on crowdfunding for energy access in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. This report reveals how crowdfunding for energy access is a niche market segment, with only $3.4 million raised for individuals, charities, NGOs and social enterprises in Africa and Asia in 2015.

The study provides a picture of how the smallholder finance space currently operates by describing the key actors and the nature of their interactions, and conceptualizing these in a new "industry model." The study identifies market frictions across the major components of the “industry model” that continue to inhibit smallholder farmers’ access to financial services and opportunities for removing them, and rallies sector actors around the need for more collective action.