Nairobi, Kenya – March 22, 2023
Afrishela (which means ‘her money in Swahili ) and promoted by the Graça Machel Trust, is honoured to be named an Emeritus Manager by Impact Assets in its annual ImpactAssets 50™ (IA 50). The IA 50 is a free, publicly available, searchable database of impact investment fund managers for impact investors, family offices, corporations, foundations, and institutional investors.
As an Indigenous African fund manager that aims to contribute to increased economic advancement, visible leadership and improvement in the lives of African Women through gender-inclusive investments, Afrishela is a fund designed, led and managed by African women for African women as depicted in our logo that symbolizes an endless loop of indigenous women holding hands.
Afrishela fund I, which is raising $30 million, is a pure gender lens investment vehicle that seeks to play where few others do by ‘investing in the missing middle’– at the intersection of gender, climate and early-stage financing to tap into, highlight and scale the impact of innovative women-businesses by providing flexible and patient mezzanine capital to women-owned and led businesses to support women lead the way in providing and scaling solutions that promote indigenous climate-action and gender-equality.
Our deal sizes range from $20,000 to $500,000, and we apply an alternative-credit-risk-assessment process to widen access to finance, tackle structural-inequalities and mitigate unconscious-bias. Afrishela intentionally drives impact through its investee companies through post technical assistance to drive value creation and has financial incentives tied to impact outcomes for both the entrepreneur and investor. We look forward to catalysing impact and generating returns using blended finance.
In its twelfth year, the IA 50 continues to raise awareness of impact fund managers across impact areas, maturity, and geography, serving as a basis for deepening understanding of the field. A record 163 impact fund managers were included totalling $122.48 billion in assets, invested across various asset classes and impact themes.
Read more about Afrishela Here
For more information, contact Andia Laura Chakava – Managing Partner, Afrishela
Email- Andiac@gracamacheltrust.org
The Trust supports and mobilises civil society networks on issues of ending child marriage, ending violence against children, ending female genital mutilation and promoting children’s rights, to carry out advocacy and action across Africa. Special focus is placed on Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia where child marriage continues to be a problem largely driven by poverty, gender inequality, harmful traditional practices, conflict, low levels of literacy, limited opportunities for girls and weak or non-existent protective and preventive legal frameworks.
Education is a fundamental right for all children, which is also a vehicle for social, economic and political transformation in communities, countries and the African continent at large. Recent studies indicate a lack of progress in some of the critical commitments aimed at improving education quality, access, retention and achievement, particularly for girls. In most African countries, girls may face barriers to learning, especially when they reach post-primary levels of education. By implementing multi-dimensional approaches to education which includes core education, personal development, life skills and economic competencies, the Trust partners with funding partners, governments, civil societies and the private sector to improve education access.
The Nutrition and Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition, (RMNCAH+N) of the Children’s Rights and Development Programme aims at promoting the Global Strategy for women, children and adolescents’ health within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda. The strategy emphasises on the importance of effective country leadership as a common factor across countries making progress in improving the health of women, children and adolescents.
Through its Early Childhood Development (ECD) plan, The Trust will seek to put into action the new science and evidence Report that was presented by Lancet Series on Good and early development – the right of every child. This will be achieved by mobilising like-minded partners to contribute in the new science and evidence to reach all young children with ECD. The Trust’s goal is to be a catalyst for doing things differently, in particular, to rid fragmentation and lack of coordination across ECD sectors. In response to evidence showing the importance of political will in turning the tide against the current poor access and quality of ECD. Even before conception, starting with a mother’s health and social economic conditions, the early years of a child’s life form a fundamental foundation that determines whether a child will survive and thrive optimally.