Impact Investing in Africa: Live Online
Deploy your capital to intentionally create a positive social impact
Find out morePlease Note
As a result of the outbreak of COVID-19 course dates and planned formats may change at short notice. Please click here for the latest detail on which courses are affected.
GAIN EXPERTISE IN IMPACT INVESTING
Position yourself in a rapidly growing field
Impact Investing in Africa is a specialised short course, offered by the Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the UCT GSB, designed to equip wealth managers, consultants, funders and other financial intermediaries with expertise in this rapidly growing field.
This interactive five-day course gives participants the tools to develop impact investing strategies, analyse opportunities and engage with clients about socially responsible investments.
What our students say
LEARN PRACTICAL FINANCIAL TOOLS
Most major financial institutions are involved in the impact investing market by building in-house expertise. However, many wealth managers, consultants and funders have yet to build their own expertise to meet the demand from a new generation of wealth holders. The fast-emerging industry, estimated at $750 billion globally in 2020, requires new financial models, new metrics and new regulation. The Impact Investing in Africa Course is the only one of its kind on the African continent. It features tailor made curriculum from the Bertha Centre, a thought leader in Impact Investing education, with lectures from leading impact investing practitioners. This five-day course is designed to give asset owners and other types of limited partners the practical financial tools and industry insight needed to allocate capital for impact.
MEET THE COURSE CONVENOR
Ms.Shiluba Mawela is a qualified chartered accountant and serves as Managing Partner at Tshiamo Impact Partners, an impact investment and advisory firm, which currently manages allocations from angel groupings (consisting of 50 African women) who invest using a gender lens. She consulted as the Secretariat Co-Lead for the National Taskforce for Impact Investing with the UCT Bertha Centre. Shiluba is a seasoned capital markets professional, having worked at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and a boutique Transaction Advisory firm. Shiluba also worked at Ernst & Young in their banking and capital markets division in Johannesburg and New York. She is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper Alumni and Mandela Washington 2016 Fellow. She sits on several boards and previously served on the FirstRand Foundation Board. She is a feature writer for Accountancy SA on all things impact and serves as a Steering Committee member for the Collaborative for Frontier Finance.
Meet the Course Convenor
Christopher Ahlfeldt has over 15 years of in-depth work experience in the sustainability industry working primarily in the North American and African markets. Since founding Blue Horizon ECS he has managed various consulting projects ranging from low-income energy services deployment to national renewable energy strategies. He’s also been involved in many in-depth energy sector studies in various countries in Africa (e.g. South Africa, Zambia, Mozambique, Namibia, eSwatini, Liberia, Kenya, Botswana, Madagascar) including tariff studies, climate finance assessments, grant evaluations, renewable energy & off-grid policy, investor market entry strategy, economic development impact, and legislative/regulatory reforms . He regularly lectures and leads educational workshops at a number of international conferences and universities. He obtained an Energy Systems Engineering B.S. degree at Stanford University and co-founded a youth education and sports non-profit in Cape Town called Yebo Volleyball.
FAQ
You will benefit from this course if you are an asset owner that is interested in understanding how to allocate capital for impact. This includes:
- Development Finance Institutions
- Diversified Financial Institutions
- Family Offices
- Foundations
- Pension Funds
- Government Institutions Pension Fund
- Investec
- Nedbank
- Old Mutual
- Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) Association
- Public Investment Corporation
Delegates on the Impact Investing in Africa course will gain:
- A sophisticated understanding of the impact investment ecosystem globally, with best practices on how to balance risk, return and impact
- Insight into how to develop an impact investing strategy
- An understanding of the process of building an effective impact investment portfolio through either intermediaries and/or direct investments
- Practical skills in due diligence, investment selection and valuation of impact investments
- Exposure to global and African best practices of implementing impact investment strategies from leading experts in the field
- An understanding of the opportunities in emerging technologies (AI, the Blockchain, remote sensing and Iot) and impact investing
This interactive five-day course offers a rich learning experience that blends theory and practice.
Day 1: Impact investing eco-system and relevance
Develop a sophisticated understanding of the impact investment ecosystem, globally and across the continent.
Day 2: Designing an impact investing strategy
Best practices for building a pipeline and performing due diligence with an impact lens across multiple sectors and asset classes.
Day 3: Evaluating, structuring and managing direct investments and investments through intermediaries
Create impact measurement and management strategies and understand the complexities of impact deal structuring.
Day 4: Building impact investing portfolios
How to build your strategy and manage your impact portfolio.
Day 5: Innovative Financing and emerging technologies for impact (Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning)
Learn about what is next in the world of impact investing and technology.
- 15% for 3 - 6 applicants (discount applied from third applicant)
- 10% for 7+ applicants (discount applied to all applicants)
- 10% for alumni of UCT GSB academic and Executive Education courses
The UCT Graduate School of Business takes pride in building future leaders and guiding the leaders of today toward sustainable impact in African business and society.
Our degree programmes and short courses deliver learning experiences that are personally transformative because better people make better leaders.
Our programmes are mostly offered at our vibrant Cape Town Breakwater Campus, at the heart of the city's most popular tourist attraction, the V&A Waterfront.
The campus is equipped with modern lecture theatres, a library and syndicate rooms for group study, as well as restaurants and the Protea Hotel Breakwater Lodge that offers special rates for students.
Find out more: https://www.gsb.uct.ac.za/student-experience
Ideas Exchange
How the rules that govern our economies can change
Impact investing offers a promising solution to address the world’s social, environmental, and economic challenges. By merging financial returns with measurable positive impacts, it’s reshaping how we think about investment. However, achieving the balance between profitability and true societal impact isn't always easy. This article delves into the complexities of impact investing and how we can rethink the rules to build more sustainable economies.
Read Article
Supporting impact investment initiatives in Africa
Africa must take charge of its own development agenda, and while impact investors can support it, they must also be supported with a collaborative and research-backed approach from African stakeholders. Here is what is being done in this regard, and how it can benefit all those involved.
Read Article
UCT GSB grows Impact Investing education in Africa
Growing impact investing capacity in Africa could unlock the continent’s potential. In 2024, the UCT Graduate School of Business is taking its Impact Investing in Africa course to Kenya for the first time – and working to create uniquely African impact investing solutions to uplift the continent
Read Article
The Inuagural Africa Impact Summit 13-14 July 2023
The inuagural Africa Impact Summit, hosted by the GSB Bertha Centre, took place on 13-14 July 2023 in Cape Town. Speakers included GSB Dean Dr Catherine Duggan, Richard Perez of the d-school Afrika and Director of the Bertha Centre Solange Rosa.
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