Innovative Finance | December 2, 2021

Dutch loan fund links better terms to better educational outcomes

Roodgally Senatus
ImpactAlpha Editor

Roodgally Senatus

ImpactAlpha, December 2 — The Impact-Linked Fund for Education will deploy social impact incentives and impact-linked loans to education-focused social enterprises and market-based nonprofits serving children and youth in the Middle East and Africa.

The fund was launched as a Dutch nonprofit foundation by impact advisory firms Roots of Impact and iGravity. Zurich-based Jacobs Foundation and the Swiss government’s Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation have committed an initial $6.5 million.

The partnership will “provide policymakers with an efficacy test on models that can be scaled,” said Jacobs Foundation’s Fabio Segura.

Education access

More than 265 million children globally are currently out of school.

Separately, a $100 million partnership between Chicago-based nonprofit Opportunity International and Dutch impact investor Oikocredit aims to increase access to affordable and quality education for 1.6 million children in low income countries.