Dfid header

DfID’s Impact Programme

THE CLIENT

The Impact Programme is the UK Department for International Development (DfID)’s flagship impact investing programme which runs until 2023. The goal is to significantly increase the volume and distribution of impact investment to Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. It does this by providing grants and technical assistance to key institutions to reduce market barriers and develop practical solutions to increase the supply of impact capital.

The programme is designed to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. In particular, improving the quality of life for people living in poverty in these regions through increased access to affordable goods and services, employment and markets.

OUR ROLE

The Good Economy is part of a core consortium managing the current phase of the Impact Programme, alongside the Palladium Group and Enclude Capital Advisory.

We act as ecosystem advisers to identify and nurture market opportunities for potential funding, as well as reviewing and assessing pipeline projects and acting as technical advisors to grantee organisations.

This builds on our role in the previous phase of the Impact Programme, where, from 2014-2018, The Good Economy led the impact measurement and management workstream in partnership with PwC. We helped to develop the programme’s market building strategy and oversaw grants related to impact measurement and management (IMM) and innovative finance vehicles. We also set up the impact management framework for a new high-impact fund managed by CDC Group.

KEY RESULTS
  • Helped incubate the start-up of the Impact Management Project to develop a taxonomy for describing impact and a set of tools for ‘impact accounting’
  • Provided core input into GIIN research agenda and the development of IRIS+ to provide a set of standardised metrics to measure social performance
  • Supported Acumen Lean Data to develop as a market offering, increasingly the availability of low-cost measurement solutions for social enterprises
  • Led the National Conversation on Investing for the Global Goals to find out more about the public’s views on and interest in ethical, responsible and impactful investment practices