Global feather in the cap for UCT’s Graduate School of Business
THE University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business (GSB) has been named as one of nine leading universities to enter into a partnership with the UN’s development programme on impact investing.
The GSB, through the Bertha Centre, is the only African business school on the new UN development programme (UNDP) research council, among other top business schools around the world.
The announcement was made at the UN General Assembly.
Established in 2011, the Bertha Centre for social innovation and entrepreneurship is a specialised unit at UCT’s GSB.
Its mission is to pursue social impact towards social justice in Africa through teaching, knowledge building, convening and catalytic projects with a focus on social innovation.
The impact investment sector is worth at least R1.5 trillion and bridges the gap between the public and private sectors through impact investment that yields competitive financial, social and environmental returns.
Magdy Martinez-Soliman, the UN’s assistant secretary-general, UNDP assistant administrator and director at the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, said: “The growing and promising niche of impact investing is a vanguard for how the private sector can intentionally create a positive impact.”
UCT and eight universities from Asia, North America and Europe have recognised the need for a combined research effort to tackle the challenges facing impact investing.
Others in the programme include the National University of Singapore’s Business School, Oxford University’s Saïd Business School, Maastricht University and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
A specialised research council, established to assist with the programme’s goals, is tasked to develop the methodology and to set down yardsticks.
Its goal is to produce a standardised impact-measuring framework that governments can use to make informed public investment decisions, define new policy options for impact investing and incentivise capital markets to prioritise social development-aligned investment.
Aunnie Patton Power, innovative finance lead and impact investing in Africa course convener at the Bertha Centre, said: “Impact investing holds significant promise for Africa.”