ACTED, France’s second largest humanitarian organisation, supports over 17 million of the most vulnerable people worldwide. Today, the NGO issues charity shares to accelerate its Zero Exclusion, Zero Carbon, Zero Poverty (3Zero) ambition.
Paris, January 21st, 2020 – ACTED has issued €4 million in charity shares to qualified investors looking for social and environmental impacts to better contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
To accompany its Zero Exclusion, Zero Carbon, Zero Poverty strategic development plan, ACTED will use all of the €4 million of additional unrestricted funds to:
– Reinforce its capacity to pre-finance humanitarian actions for an even more immediate impact;
– Integrate new technologies at the heart of its action by investing in its digital transformation;
– Act in favour of financial inclusion by refinancing the loan portfolio of its microfinance subsidiary OXUS and strengthening the capital of OXUS entities in the field; and
– Support the deployment of “3Zero Houses”: multi-stakeholder platforms for mobilization, driving innovation and solutions with a societal and environmental impact to accelerate the implementation of SDGs.
In 2012, ACTED – accredited as an enterprise with solidarity and social purpose (ESUS) – was a pioneer in issuing charity shares and bonds towards investors seeking a social and environmental impact to support the implementation of its solidarity programmes. Since then, out of a total of nearly €19 million raised, via 6 successive rounds of financing, more than €6million has already been repaid. Faced with the growing challenges of sustainable development, ACTED has made the choice to co-construct innovative multi-actor solutions. This operation was carried out in partnership with Crédit Coopératif.
At the end of 2019, five actors (Mirova, BNP Paribas Asset Management, Ecofi Investissements, CFJ and UECM) subscribed to an additional €4 million in charity shares for at least 7 years, confirming investors’ confidence in the scheme and ACTED’s project. Given the exceptional results of ACTED’s financial and non-financial objectives of the last years, investors have shown themselves favourable to the 2020-2026 development plan and continue to pursue and consolidate their cooperation.
“As one of ACTED’s long-standing partners, Ecofi Investissements is pleased to contribute, through its solidarity funds, to ACTED’s unrestricted funds. This operation follows a series of investments in ACTED through promissory notes, charity bonds and shares previously issued. The social impact sought by ACTED in its activities is perfectly in line with the objectives pursued by Ecofi through its solidarity investments”.
– Pierre Valentin, President of the Ecofi Investissements Management Board.
“BNP Paribas Asset Management has been a long-standing partner of ACTED since 2013. In this time, we have built a relationship of trust and are convinced of the importance of their work and the relevance of their mission. Investing in this new initiative is to continue to support their growth and help them reach a new level thanks to a long-term investment in associative securities. “
– Marie-Geneviève Loys Carreiras, Head of Solidarity Investments at BNP Paribas Asset Management.
“Convinced that in order to respond to the current global challenges ACTED would need to go beyond the conventional humanitarian framework, we invited new stakeholders to the table. ACTED started to meet with social impact investors in 2012, before issuing charity shares which offered a double return on investment: firstly through the financial return obtained and secondly through the social and environmental impact of the actions carried out in the field. These innovative financing tools have enabled us to stop pre-financing our emergency interventions through costly and uncertain lines of credit and to significantly broaden our scope of action in the major humanitarian crises affecting the world. This has resulted in a doubling of our budget over the period.”
– Aurélien Daunay, ACTED’s Vice CEO.
Contact
Duncan WALL | duncan.wall@acted.org |
About ACTED, the 3Zero ambition and OXUS
Since 1993, ACTED has been working towards a “Zero Exclusion, Zero Carbon, Zero Poverty” world. The association responds to the humanitarian needs of populations in crisis situations, while promoting opportunities for sustainable development. ACTED carries out more than 500 projects per year with over 17 million beneficiaries in 37 countries with the support of 6,000 employees. The organisation is constantly growing, multiplying its activities and projects. Its budget of nearly €300 million at the end of 2019 has been multiplied by 5 in 10 years. 95% of the funds raised are used for and in the field in order to “reach the last mile”.
www.acted.org I http://www.3zero.org/
The OXUS Group was created by ACTED in 2005 with the launch of its first microfinance institution. Today the Group has grown and includes 3 subsidiaries in Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan with a team of nearly 800 employees. OXUS is a social enterprise, committed to providing financial services to low-income people and/or people excluded from the banking system. Nearly 45,000 micro-entrepreneurs will obtain loans from OXUS by the end of 2019, with a consolidated portfolio of more than €30 million.