Impact investment will exceed $500b in 10 years, says expert

THE principal partner in Alitheia Capital, Mrs. Tokunbo Ishmael, has said that value of impact investment in Africa could exceed $500 billion in the next decade.Ishmael described impact investing as investment strategy whereby an investor proactively sought to place capital in business that would have intentional social or environmental goal.She made the observation in an article on Impact Investing: The pursuit of Purpose and Profits in the April edition of the N-SACC News, a publication of the Nigerian-South African Chamber of Commerce (NSACC).Ishmael said that impact investing was being made to change and better the lots of the people and as well generate financial returns.If leaders build industry, investing for impact could have a powerful role in addressing some of our most troubling social, environment and infrastructural challenges.The promotion of impact investment across Africa will foster the development of the continent and bring meaningful improvement in the living standard of the people, she said.She called on local investors to brace up for the challenge, saying that major investments in Nigeria were mainly from the foreign investors.Ishmael said that she was worried over the low level of financial inclusion in the country.She said that huge resources had been lost due to lack of access to financial services by about 60 per cent of the population.Ishmael added that there were great opportunities for Nigerian philanthropists to infuse impact investment into their programmes as a way of enhancing sustainability. 
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