New York, September, 27 2022: UNDP SDG Impact, a flagship initiative of UNDP Sustainable Finance Hub, working to accelerate private sector contributions towards the achievement of the SDGs by 2030 and Baraka Impact Finance LLC, the leading healthcare investment data provider for emerging markets have entered into a partnership to unlock private capital in the emerging markets healthcare sector.
The collaboration comes at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has caused the global health crisis of our generation and exacerbated health system gaps and disparities in the developing world where public funds have been diverted to tackle acute pandemic priorities.
The partnership will focus on two overarching objectives. The first is to drive awareness and adoption of sustainable management practices among entrepreneurs, early-stage companies and investors through the SDG Impact Standards – the voluntary management standards that integrate sustainability and the SDGs into operations and management practices. There is a growing consensus amongst businesses and investors that there is an urgent need to act sustainably now, but there is a lack of resources to showcase how to translate those intentions into actions. As an overarching management framework, the SDG Impact Standards addresses the private sector’s demand for guidance around how to become a sustainable organization. Baraka’s pipeline of scalable health-sector innovators in emerging markets will provide a rich source of entrepreneurial collaboration on the effort.
The second is to increase the availability and visibility of investor-focused country-level market intelligence to catalyze private capital investment in the health sector of emerging markets. By leveraging each other’s platforms, including Baraka Impact Finance LLC’s network of 700+ impact-focused investors, the partnership seeks to raise awareness and streamline investor consideration of potential investment opportunities. UNDP’s SDG Investor Map is a market intelligence tool that pinpoints country-level Investment Opportunity Areas (IOAs) ̶ investment themes and business models ̶ where government policy, national sustainable need and investor interest overlap. There are currently 23 SDG Investor Maps with over 400 IOAs and counting, housed on the SDG Investor Platform spanning the developing world from Ghana, Indonesia to Colombia.
The Baraka Health Investment Intelligence Dashboard, combines deep global health expertise with sophisticated data analytics tools that inform investment strategies across the spectrum of health interventions in low- and middle-income countries. Using evidence-based qualitative and quantitative analyses, Baraka Impact Finance LLC connects the dots between scalable health interventions and the return-seeking capital required to catalyze change, create measurable social impact and leverage market opportunities.
Marcos Neto, Director of UNDP Sustainable Finance Hub commented, “The SDGs are interconnected and without progress of SDG 3, Good Health and Well-Being, we won’t achieve the other 16 SDGs. Further, progress towards the SDGs has reversed due to the threats of COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. We are excited to partner with the innovative Baraka Finance Impact LLC team whose data, tools and platform complements our own. By combining our market intelligence and sustainable management standards for the private sector, we will strive to accelerate the achievement of sustainability and the SDGs, and to leave no one behind.”
James Bair, Partner and Managing Director, Baraka Impact Finance LLC added, “At Baraka Impact Finance LLC we know that Innovative partnerships are critical to empowering impactful and scalable solutions to health disparities in emerging markets. Our collaboration with UNDP Sustainable Finance Hub is precisely that kind of broad-reaching, impact-driving partnership that can meaningfully align business practices and catalyze investment towards achieving SDG 3 targets by 2030 and accelerate health system improvements in underserved communities. We at Baraka Impact Finance LLC have thoroughly enjoyed working with the enthusiastic and forward-looking team at UNDP Sustainable Finance Hub and look forward to a long and impactful collaboration.
The Baraka Health Investment Intelligence Dashboard, combines deep global health expertise with sophisticated data analytics tools that inform investment strategies across the spectrum of health interventions in low- and middle-income countries. Using evidence-based qualitative and quantitative analyses, Baraka Impact Finance LLC connects the dots between scalable health interventions and the return-seeking capital required to catalyze change, create measurable social impact and leverage market opportunities.
About UNDP SDG Impact, part of UNDP Sustainable Finance Hub
SDG Impact is a UNDP flagship initiative, working to accelerate private sector contributions towards sustainability and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Its aim is to make it easier for organizations to place sustainability, the SDGs and managing for impact at the core of business and investment purpose, how value is created, and how capital is allocated through its SDG Impact Standards and the SDG Investor Maps.
About Baraka Impact Finance LLC
Baraka Impact Finance LLC is a Swiss-registered company that mobilizes private capital for investments in emerging market health companies. The work is accomplished through the sourcing, screening and vetting for commercial scalability and social impact of hundreds of technology-driven health-sector companies across Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, and through engagements with a broad spectrum of impact-focused investors globally. The majority of Baraka Impact Finance LLC's pipeline companies are actively raising between USD$1m - USD$20m in equity or grant funding. Our most active investors are the impact arms of large multinationals, health-focused impact investment funds and Development Finance Institutions. Baraka Impact is global, with expert health and finance team members in Geneva, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Mumbai, Bogota and Kuwait.
About UNDP
UNDP is the leading United Nations organization fighting to end the injustice of poverty, inequality, and climate change. Working with our broad network of experts and partners in 170 countries, we help nations to build integrated, lasting solutions for people and planet.
Learn more at undp.org
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