UBS has backed the world’s first development impact bond in healthcare that allows clients to use their capital to improve maternity care in India
- The UBS Optimus Foundation will provide US$3.5 million of its clients’ capital to back a development impact bond, the goal of which is to reduce maternal and infant mortality rates in Rajasthan, India. Other partners on the bond include US aid agency USAID, impact consultancy firm Palladium, and three non-profit groups: PSI, HLFPPT and MSD for Mothers.
- The foundation also recently launched a healthcare portfolio, nicknamed Going Further, which it says it plans to co-fund to deliver better health services to the world’s poorest communities in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.
- Kinedu, a venture spun out of Mexico-based education consultancy Edtech, has meanwhile raised US$1.1 million to enhance children’s learning in the earliest stages of their development.
- Dutch development bank FMO and Ameriabank CJSC have signed a loan agreement of US$30 million to finance SMEs led by young entrepreneurs and younger retail clientele in Armenia.
- FMO will also extend a loan of US$5 million loan from MASSIF, a financial inclusion fund managed on behalf of the Dutch government, to fund the Pakistani Kashf Foundation. Kashf is a microfinance institution created to alleviate poverty by providing affordable financial and non-financial services to low-income households.
- The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) recently signed a loan agreement with the Republic of Mozambique and two corporations in the Republic of Malawi to construct railway and port infrastructure for exports of coal produced from the Moatize coal mine in Mozambique.
- The Meloy Fund, an impact investment fund focused on sustainable coastal fisheries in Indonesia and the Philippines, has closed a further US$7 million of funding and is finalising a partial guarantee with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) through its Development Credit Authority. The fund holds a total capital sum of around US$17.1 million. Other investors in the vehicle include the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and Ceniarth. LLC, a single-family office that targets underserved communities.
- International Finance Corporation (IFC) will invest €15 million to improve access to finance among small businesses in North Africa in a fund managed by Africinvest.
- The Lebanese government, through its parliamentary committee, has approved a US$34 million loan by Agence Française de Developpement to facilitate private investment in its energy sector. Investment will include both renewable and non-renewable energy sectors related to oil and gas.