Oxfam is passionate about helping entrepreneurs make a social impact in developing economies. We are keen to connect with like-minded investors to scale up the support we offer to SMEs in the future and can offer various options to work together. In cooperation with Oxfam, we bring in our experience in responsible financing and our deep knowledge on realising impact.
By investing with Oxfam, we aim to guarantee reliable returns in the future and true impact for people living in poverty. We plan to become a centre of knowledge and expertise on impact measurement for donors and grant based foundations as well as investors and financial institutions.
Inclusive Impact Investments Fund
Oxfam Novib (Netherlands) has invested 8 million euro from its own resources in Inclusive Impact Investments to support SMEs in Africa and Asia both directly, and indirectly through investments in financial intermediaries such as MFIs. The fund is managed professionally through a limited liability separate from Oxfam Novib. At present, Oxfam Novib is the sole shareholder of this fund.
In 2015, the current pilot phase of the Inclusive Impact Investments initiative will draw to an end, and Oxfam Novib will evaluate whether it wishes to continue its impact investing activities. At this point, Oxfam Novib will open up the fund to other investors too. We are currently eager to connect with investors to explore potential co-investments and learn about your expectations to the fund’s future performance. We invite potential investors to contact us to discuss our current track record and plans for the future.
Business development support
It is not capital alone that stops SMEs from succeeding, but evidence shows that lack of skills and capacities is a major hurdle to SME development in Africa and Asia. Oxfam, therefore, invests in business development support for SMEs too. We work with entrepreneurs in need of support and mentorship such as with agricultural cooperatives that want to become more financially sustainable or with young entrepreneurs with high ambitions who simply need the right connections and mentorship to make their businesses take off.
Oxfam currently runs business support activities in over 20 countries around the world. We welcome any investors or donors willing to work with us in our business development support activities.
Measuring Impact
As an impact investor you know how your portfolio is doing financially, but assessing its social impact is usually more difficult. Over the last two decades, Oxfam has built up its expertise in the management of its grants and micro finance portfolios, particularly with respect to measuring the impact of our work at the end client level. We are now offering impact measurements services to help investors understand the true impact of their investments. Find out more about how we can help you with measuring impact.