We work with clients and institutions involved in building and sustaining the Social Impact Investment Infrastructure and Ecosystem; from those creating or paying for social impact (demand side) to those providing or channeling impact capital (supply side). This would likely include the following:

1.  National, Regional and Local Government Institutions

   The COVID-19 health pandemic has exacerbated and exposed the serious economic and social challenges that most African governments are facing. Public debt is rising, budget deficit is expanding, Balance of Payment (BOP) is worsening and Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) is shrinking. ACE intends to assist government institutions to develop innovative approaches or strategies for improving social welfare of the citizens and delivering the developmental infrastructure necessary for attaining the SDGs at national level, without breaking the budget or depending on aid. Thus ACE helps governments design Blended Finance strategies that use public finance or philanthropic capital as catalytic capital to crowd-in the massive private capital.

2.  Local Financial Institutions and Local Investment Platforms

   Local financial organizations and platforms usually have limited access to patient and concessional capital. This limits their ability to provide financial services to the unserved or underserved in rural areas or demographic segments like women and youths. ACE assists locally owned financial institutions such as banks, insurance companies and Micro-finance institutions (MFIs) to design strategies and build partnerships that would enable them push financial inclusion to the fringes. We support them in developing fundable digital finance, agency banking and digital transformation strategies.

3.  Small and Medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and Start-ups

   ACE provides investment readiness services. Most SMEs and start-ups are struggling to raise capital because they are not yet prepared or ready to receive capital i.e. their current state of affairs does not warrant an institution to invest in them. Hence we help them tidy up their financial reporting, build corporate governance and prepare a compelling business plan. We intend to be the financial advisor of choice for start-ups seeking to raise funds.

4.  Development Finance Institutions (DFIs)

   We partner with DFIs to develop last-mile economic and financial solutions. This is to ensure that the macro or large-scale solutions conceived and implemented by the DFIs trickle down and thus measureable impact is felt by the average street person or operator. 

   For example most DFIs have programs targeting women-owned or women-led small businesses. However, the woman operating a small street-corner restaurant hardly benefits from such programs. ACE designs last-mile solutions that enable these small operators - who are usually in the informal sector - to gain access to such funding programs.

5.  Project Developers

   ACE assists project developers to better structure their projects such that they intentionally generate social and environmental impact as well as a financial return. We prepare robust financial models and structuring to help the developers get access to Project Finance or Public-Private Partnership financing options.

6.  Environmental, Climate Change and Natural Resource Management Organizations

   ACE helps institutions involved in Climate Change and natural resource (for example forest and water bodies) management to develop alternative and innovative funding strategies. We help them trigger a paradigm shift from relying on philanthropic capital or national contributions to looking for alternative capital sources, alternative financial intermediaries and financial instruments that tap into the huge capital markets.