Investors & Partners (I&P) and the Prince’s Government have signed a partnership agreement to create the first impact fund dedicated to education in Africa.

Due to launch in 2020, its objective will be to respond to the challenges of access, equity, quality and adequacy of education in Africa.

The education of the most vulnerable populations and the training of young people are crucial issues for the African continent. Despite undeniable progress over the past decade, education systems face a number of common challenges, such as improving access to education, especially for girls and rural people, ensuring its quality, and ensure a balance between training provided and the needs of local labor markets.

“African governments have limited means to solve these problems, and in fact the private sector is increasingly seen as a complementary player in the education sector,” explained Jean-Michel Severino, President of Investisseurs & Partenaires.

Private initiatives are still limited and very little money has been invested in education, especially in the area of ​​impact investing.

Through the creation of an impact fund dedicated to education, I&P and the Prince’s Government aim to promote accessible, fair and quality education in Africa.

The fund will help fund and support private educational institutions, or educational ecosystem businesses producing goods, services and technologies that are essential to solving these issues.

Several investment hypotheses are now tested concerning the sectors and investment criteria, the geographical scope and the financial instruments that will be mobilized.

A feasibility study is underway to determine the opportunities and obstacles to creating an impact vehicle dedicated to education in the African context.

Led by FERDI (Foundation for Studies and Research on International Development), the study will provide a better understanding of African education challenges and identify good practices in education that can be developed and expanded by the private sector.

The partnership between I&P and the Prince’s Government comprises three components:

Completion of the feasibility study, conducted between October 2018 and May 2019
The recruitment of an International Volunteer of Monaco, carried out in October 2018
A partnership agreement to define, structure and raise the fund, with a grant of Monaco of one million euros to I&P.