Task force to examine feasibility of $1 bn fund for social, environmental drive in Lat America

The Global Steering Group for Impact Investment today announced the launch of a task force to determine the feasibility of USD 1 billion fund to drive social and environmental impact in 20 countries across Central and South America.

Once viability has been established, the Latin America Impact Fund of Funds (LIFF) Task Force intends to launch the fund of funds to strengthen the intermediary market.

Latin American countries have made significant progress on key social and environmental fronts over the last decade, but significant challenges remain.

According to estimates, about 40 per cent of their population live in vulnerable conditions: 115 million people live in informal urban settlements, more than 80 million people are affected by insufficient water supply and sanitation, twenty per cent of the regional population lacks access to basic health-care facilities, and nearly ten per cent of young people have not completed primary school.

"The fund will seek to address these issues by providing patient debt and equity capital to social and environmental impact funds in Latin America. It will pool institutional and retail capital from domestic and international sources and it will be aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals," a statement said.

The announcement was made in Buenos Aires by Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (GSG) Vice Chair & Global Ambassador Alejandro Preusche, who will chair the Task Force.

The GSG is incubating two similar-sized initiatives in India -- the India Education Outcomes Fund and the India Impact Fund of Funds -- as well as an Education Outcomes Fund in Africa and the Middle East.