Diversity, equity & inclusion

The Amethis Europe Expansion Fund aims to support European small and medium-sized enterprises seeking to expand into Africa, as well as Europe and the Middle East. The fund has been backed by the EIB, Bpifrance and COFIDES.

Carrots as well as sticks are required to generate more private sector interest in social impact, according to the Schwab Foundation’s Daniel Nowack.

The initiative aims to improve access to funding for companies in sectors such as agriculture, healthcare and infrastructure, while supporting gender economic equality.

The impact investor has collaborated with a social inclusion charity in Bristol to provide wrap around support for tenants in its refurbished homes.

The €400m Fondo de Impacto Social (FIS) has invested €15m into the Global Social Impact Fund II which supports SME’s contributing to the economic and social inclusion of vulnerable communities in Spain.

The gender lens fund has received more than €9m in investment from M&G Investments reaching its fundraising target of €50m, five years after launch.

Returning US president Donald Trump has carried through on pledges to pull out of the Paris climate change agreement, but that has not dampened enthusiasm for sustainable investment among European investors, a new survey found. 

The Invest in Women Taskforce aims to tackle the vast gender gap in equity finance in the UK. Funding will go towards supporting firms founded by women, or into a specialist ‘Women backing Women’ fund.

The company’s software, which improves the accuracy and efficiency of breast cancer detection, is used widely in Germany and is also being trialled in India. Vara is backed by European family offices and other investors.

Although progress has been made in the past ten years, financial inclusion remains challenging across the whole of the African continent.