I dream of the realization of the unity of Africa, whereby its leaders combine in their efforts to solve the problems of this continent.
- Former President Nelson Mandela (South Africa)
Education is a human right with immense power to transform. On its foundation rest the cornerstones of freedom, democracy and sustainable human development.
- Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan (Ghana)
Our children may learn about the heroes of the past. Our task is to make ourselves the architects of the future.
- Former President Jomo Kenyatta (Kenya)
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AVPA Newsletter
Introducing the new AVPA newsletter! Click the image to download and read our most recent newsletter.
About Us
The African Venture Philanthropy Alliance (AVPA) is a unique Pan-African network for social investors, headquartered in Nairobi and committed to building a vibrant and high impact community across Africa. AVPA is aligned with thriving networks in Europe (EVPA - HQ in Brussels with 254 members) and Asia (AVPN HQ in Singapore with 503 members) to form a dynamic global force for social impact.
We believe in the transformative power of social investment – the deployment of capital for social ends utilizing a disciplined approach that increases transparency and accountability. Effective social investment can generate significant impact through different types of innovative organizations – from non-profits to social enterprises to full-fledged businesses – yielding vastly different financial returns, from negative (grants) to low (loans) to full market rates (impact investments.)
Over the past decades, wealth in Africa has grown dramatically and with it comes a new breed of investor looking to tackle many of the continent’s glaring social, environmental and economic challenges. From companies looking to improve their CSR practice to high net worth individuals looking to change the world, the AVPA platform engages and connects members across sectors and borders; provides practical, customized frameworks, tools and knowledge to build their effectiveness; and facilitates collaboration and partnership to create real and lasting change for Africa.
AVPA leverages the 13-year successful experience and momentum of the European Venture Philanthropy Association (evpa.eu.com) and the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (avpn.asia) – thriving networks that together have over 600 members in 52 countries and are proven catalysts for mobilizing capital and helping members to deploy it more effectively to drive positive change. At the same time, the AVPA is an independent African-led organization that adapts and modifies these models to succeed in Africa’s unique context. AVPA facilitates the flow of human, intellectual and financial capital, not only within Africa, but also with the vast network of members across the 52 countries outside of Africa.
This matters because traditional approaches to addressing major social challenges, fuelled primarily by philanthropy and government spending, will not be sufficient to solve the problems of today and tomorrow. Social Investment is absolutely critical for Africa to fulfil its potential at the speed needed to address the acute challenges it faces. Vastly expanded amounts of capital driving innovative, high-impact solutions are needed across Africa, with much greater levels of efficiency and sustainability. Accomplishing this is AVPA’s vision.
Our Mission
The core mission of AVPA is to improve lives in Africa by increasing the flow of financial, human and intellectual capital to social investment and by enabling investors to deploy their capital more effectively.
In pursuit of this mission, AVPA focuses on:
- Fostering more disciplined practices to deploying capital for social impact that increases transparency and accountability and thus enables individuals and organizations to achieve their aspirations for change in critical areas they care most about – whether it is health, education, financial inclusion, skill building, environment, and youth employment
- Promoting collaboration, helping our members pool their funds and sharing best practice across sectors and borders via our unique convening platform.
- Enhancing the effectiveness of our members through organised learning opportunities and knowledge sharing to accelerate their impact.
- Inspiring the sector by showcasing the real life successes of experienced practitioners to help emerging philanthropists and social investors become more effective.
- Facilitating a more informed social investment ecosystem that spans the continuum from philanthropy to impact investment.
Our Vision
Our vision is to one day realize a vibrant, high impact social investment community across Africa—a landscape where providers of capital collaborate to help social purpose organizations (SPOs) deliver maximum social value.
Our Values
Integrity, transparency and leadership.
Our organizational Structure
African-based, African-led and substantially African-funded.
Our Approach
AVPA will add significant and distinctive value in Africa by supporting our members with a robust portfolio of critical services. Over time, this will take the form of:
AVPA will create a more vibrant and collaborative social investment community, through sharing of information during conferences, workshops, seminars, job postings, newsletters and articles. It will also develop sector specific working groups to bring members together for a common goal.
The AVPA Knowledge Centre will be a hub for research and thought leadership in the social investment sector in Africa. Where relevant to Africa, it will adapt existing knowledge developed in Asia and Europe to inspire new African innovations, enable the establishment of best practices and encourage collaboration across Africa and beyond.
AVPA will deliver quality programming for inspiration, advocacy and networking opportunities -- such as speaker series, roundtable discussions, customised member gatherings and webinars on relevant topics involving members from across Africa, and our sister networks in Asia and Europe.
AVPA will enable corporates to determine the most effective approaches for their CSR programs, helping to unlock the potential of both financial and non-financial resources to accelerate and scale impact. In jurisdictions where specific types of contributions are mandatory, AVPA will help corporate members find ways to multiply the impact achieved within the requirements of local legislation.
The Deal Share Platform (DSP) will be a forum for connecting investors looking to support best-in-class organisations ready and able to generate significant impact. These organizations will include a wide variety of “deals” supported by other members, ranging from non-profits to social enterprises to impact investments. The DSP provides access to investors and organizations from within Africa and – when linked to the EVPA and AVPN platforms – throughout the world. This platform will only be available for listing deals or finding deals for AVPA members, and the affiliated networks.
AVPA will address the talent challenge across the continent by helping motivated, focused educational institutions to embrace key principles and practices of best-in-class philanthropy and social investment through courses, seminars and specialist camps, thereby laying the foundation for sustained leadership and management for generations to come.
The Policy Dialogue will facilitate the efforts of governments throughout the continent to build robust enabling environments for social investment that are effective in their own political, social and economic contexts. It will do this through dialogue among influential government policy makers, entrepreneurs and other key players across Africa, as well as by enabling direct engagement and discourse between governments in Africa and around the world. This dialogue was initiated in Asia four years ago and is now actively engaging 20 governments.
Executive Leadership Team
Oluwatoyin Adegbite-Moore
Executive Director West Africa Region
Executive Director West Africa Region
Prior to joining AVPA, Oluwatoyin (Toyin) headed Sheafam & Tam Limited a consultancy firm specializing in business process management, strategic and change management for both non and for-profit organisations in the US and Nigeria. Toyin has provided project oversight on department audits at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the Petroleum Industry Regulatory Bill through the Facility for Oil Sector Transformation (FOSTER). Her work in strategy development and organizational transformation has led her to work with the Niger Delta Power Holding Company among others. Toyin holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Calvin College, where she dual majored in Political Science and French. She also holds several training certificates in management, facilitation and team-building from the Corporation for National Service; fund development from Indiana University and affordable housing from Federal Reserve Bank. She is also a certified facilitator and trainer.
Nancy Kairo
Executive Director East Africa Region
Executive Director East Africa Region
Prior to joining AVPA, Nancy held a senior management position with World Vision USA where she managed over 15 economic development projects across three global regions (Sub-Saharan Africa, West Asia and the Caribbean). Nancy has over 20 years experience working in the areas of organizational leadership,
resource mobilization, and project management. She has carried out short and long-term assignments with a number of prominent organizations including World Bank, The Organization of African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA) and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development. Nancy sits on the board of several organizations including ActionAid Kenya. Nancy has led several national behavior change campaigns—one of which led to legislative changes in Kenya. She holds a Master of Science Degree in Economic Development from Southern New Hampshire University, USA and professional certifications in Grant Acquisition & Management, Change Management Leadership, Results Based Management and Strategic Marketing.
Strategic Advisory Group
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Citibank Nigeria. Yemi is a financial and development expert with over thirty years’ experience in the private, public and non-for-profit sectors. He is the first commissioner/ cabinet member for economic planning and budget for Lagos state and has served on the board of several leading companies including Texaco and Chevron Oil Plc. He is a member of the Belgian-based Cities Alliance Think Tank which aims to shape and influence policy and decision making on urban development in Africa and has strong relationships with key international donor agencies.
Former Head (2006-2017) of KPMG’s International Development Advisory Services (IDAS) Africa. Prior to KPMG he worked with the United Nations across Latin America and the European Union in Mozambique. He has lived in Africa for the last twenty years and has advised governments, donors, civil society organisations, venture philanthropists and private companies in over 40 countries. He advises on the design, set up and management of complex multi-million-dollar programmes- particularly Challenge Funds that are pioneering in nature. On behalf of clients IDAS has financed over 400 social investments across Africa. Julio led the African Enterprise Challenge Fund for nine years.
Cofounder and CEO of Entrepreneurial Solutions Partners (ESPartners), an advisory and investment group. He authored Entrepreneurial Solutions for Prosperity for BOP Markets published by Wharton School and served on the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council Innovation as well as on the Wharton Board for Europe Middle East and Africa. Eric also led the Rwanda National Innovation and Competitiveness (RNIC) Program and served leaders of business, government and development partners in over a dozen other low-income nations. He was honoured by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader, the African Leadership Institute as a Tutu Fellow as well as Forbes Afrique as one of Africa’s 20 builders of tomorrow. He earned his MBA at the Wharton School and his MPA at the Harvard Kennedy School as a Mason Fellow.
Executive Director of the Kenya Community Development Foundation (KCDF) and Director of the KCDF Investment Holdings. Previously she was Country Director of ActionAid International Tanzania. She serves on the Boards of TrustAfrica, the African Philanthropy, AccountableNow, Open Society Initiative of East Africa and chairs Viwango. She is a certified Organization Development consultant, with a Masters in Development Administration and Management from the University of Manchester (UK), and a post graduate diploma in Organization Development Consultancy from the Swiss Institute of Applied Psychology. She received the Exemplary Women’s Leadership Award, and the Outstanding Leadership Award.
Advisor for Strategic Partnerships at the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in Kenya. He is also the National Coordinator in Kenya for the SDG Philanthropy Platform and is active in establishing a broader SDG Partnership Platform in Kenya co-chaired between the Government and the UN to unlock $1 billion of SDG aligned PPPs. Arif was a former Regional CEO of the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) East Africa for over 13 years and previously the Regional Representative in Eastern Africa for the French & International Bank – Société Générale.
CEO of Par Equity Group. He was the founder Chairperson of WECBOF, an organisation who represented small and medium size businesses in The Western Cape Province. He is concurrently Chairman of Synergos Southern Africa, a poverty alleviation think tank. Raised with his ten siblings by his grandparents in a poor environment in the midst of Apartheid. He founded his first company in 1989. Since then, he has sat on more than twenty (for profit and non-profit) boards. He of late has established a thinktank to explore «social impact» investment opportunities in the sectors of technology, food security and property.
Chairman of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) Foundation, where he brings together the business sector in Kenya to participate in social investment. A successful business leader and entrepreneur, he is the Founder Director of Dimensions Architects and serves as Executive Chairman of Resorts and Cities, a leading real estate company in Kenya. He also serves as Chairman of the Mwangaza Trust and is a former Chairman of the Danish Advocacy Fund in Kenya.
Co-Founder and the Chairman of Capital Alliance Nigeria. He was Managing Partner of Arthur Andersen & Co. Nigeria, which he started in 1978. Previously, he served as Managing Partner of Arthur Andersen in Benelux, Argentina, and Uruguay. Dick was formerly the Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, served on the Lagos Business School Advisory Board and previously headed the technical team for Nigeria’s Vision 2010 Committee. He holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School and an accounting degree from Kansas University. He is a U.S.-Certified Public Accountant and a Nigerian Chartered Accountant.
Deputy Chair and Principle Consultant of the African Financial Group. In May 2010, she was appointed by the South African President to be a Member of the inaugural National Planning Commission that produced the National Development Plan for South Africa. She is a Global Director of the International Women’s Forum and Deputy Chair of the Integrated Urban Development Framework Panel of Experts.
CEO of the Southern Africa Trust. He is also a renowned writer, author, researcher and thought-leader with keen interest in questions of African resources, democracy and governance. He currently serves on several boards that include the African Philanthropy Network (APN), ICCO Southern Africa Regional Council, the International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR), and the African Union Foundation Council.
Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR) of Nigeria, and Executive Chairman of Arian Capital Limited, of Barclays Nigeria, and of SecureID Limited. Non-Executive Director of Cadbury Nigeria Plc. He has been Chairman of Helios Towers Nigeria, InterSwitch Limited, Mouka Limited, Cornerstone Insurance Plc, among others. He is Chairman of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, the Lagos Angel Network (LAN) and Trustee and Chairman of the Governing Board of the Corona School’s Trust. He is the private sector representative on the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC). He served as Managing Partner of Arthur Andersen and Andersen Consulting from 1993 to 1999 and as Country MD and Chairman of Accenture in Nigeria till 2006.
CEO at LifeCo UnLtd SA. He is a journalist, businessman and impact entrepreneur (Ashoka Globalizer Fellow), who established LifeCo in 1997, to invest in impact entrepreneurs and impact enterprises. LifeCo is wholly owned by a public benefit trust and has commercial interests in renewable energy and green architecture across Africa. LifeCo’s impact venture capital fund makes investments that seek financial and impact returns in Africa.
Founder and CEO at Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL) based in Lagos, Nigeria. He is a professor at the Lagos Business School and a leading scholar in Business, Political Economy and Media Studies. He founded the African Democratic Congress party and was a candidate for President of Nigeria in 2007 and 2011. He has served in senior positions in government, as an adviser to the president of Nigeria and as Chief Operating Officer for Volkswagen of Nigeria.
Join Us
AVPA is currently in its launch phase. Any organization that is committed to deploying financial, human and intellectual resources more effectively to increase impact in Africa will be eligible to join the network once formally launched. All who join the network during the first 12 months from launch – whether from Africa or other regions – will be designated as “Founding Members” from then on, in recognition of their decisive role in getting this effort off the ground.
Why should you consider joining the AVPA?
The primary benefit of membership is access to people, tools and knowledge that will enhance your ability to achieve the impact you aspire to – whatever that may be.
Of these, the most fundamental is people, and in the AVPA you’ll find a global network of like-minded individuals and organizations from many different sectors —all focused on deploying resources more strategically to improve life in Africa.
Examples of specific services that over time will be available to members include:
Knowledge and Insight
- Unlimited access to AVPA research reports and case studies
- Subscription on AVPA quarterly Newsletter
- Discount to AVPA Training Workshops
- Complimentary Webinars
- Access to Knowledge Center team for advice on best practices
- Study Tours
Advocacy and Collaboration
- Dedicated Membership Services team representative as relationship manager
- Participation in peer working groups
- Participation in peer working groups
- Access to Deal Share Platform
- Promotion of events and programs via our website and social media channels
- Opportunity to contribute in the network’s Blog
Networking
- One complimentary ticket to AVPA’s flagship Annual Conference
- Potentially, as relevant: Access to speaking opportunities at conferences and workshops
- Meet ups and Roundtables
- Personalized introductions
AVPA is currently seeking Seed Funding of US$1.5m per year (for the first three years) from organizations, friends and well-wishers across the African continent. We invite you to become a strategic Founding Partner of this powerful platform by contributing towards our Capital Campaign and together we will transform the social investment ecosystem across Africa.
If you are interested in becoming a Founding Partner please contact info@avpa.africa for more information.
