Participants at an AVPA social investment conference in Nairobi on March 14. photo | diana ngila
Nairobi is set to be home of a pan-African group that focuses on
advancing venture philanthropy (VP) and social investment (SI) in
Africa.
The group mobilises resources for projects that improve the livelihood of communities.
The
continental platform – the African Venture Philanthropy Alliance (AVPA)
– to be headquartered in Nairobi, is fronted by the International
Venture Philanthropy Centre (IVPC).
IVPC is a social
investment movement that was established in Europe in 2005 before
expanding to Asia in 2012 with 230 and 409 members respectively, across
52 countries.
It aims at tapping resources ranging from capital, human and
technical from the private investors, high-net-worth families,
foundations, corporates, professional services firms, universities and
government-related agencies. IVPC co-founding partner Alejandro Alvarez
von Gustedt has said the organisation settled on Nairobi due to its
highly rated tech status.
Speaking in Nairobi during
AVPA social investment conference, Mr Gustedt said South Africa and
Nigeria will be regional centres for southern and western regions of the
continent respectively.
“AVPA is expected to be a
network for funders and providers of human and intellectual capital who
will build a vibrant social investment community across sub-Saharan
Africa.
“Over the last 18 months, extensive due
diligence consultations with over 400 leaders across the continent have
shown that conditions are ripe for this network to take-off.
There
is consensus that a membership network of capital providers – can
accelerate social impact by expanding capital deployment, fostering
learning, collaboration and accountability and leveraging community to
advance systemic change in Africa,” said Mr Gustedt.
So
far, both Europe and Asia networks have mobilised resources to the tune
of Sh700 billion ($7 billion) in social investment across the two
regions.
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