Languages
Pages
Legal
Investing In Small & Growing Businesses
In Fragile And Conflict Affected States
IGNITE FUND
Most of the conflict is fueled by lack of
economic opportunities rather than
just political grievances. (Ibid; World Bank 2013;
Dudwick et al 2013)
Improvement of economic condition reduces
chances of recurring conflict in fragile states: 10%
economic growth rate can reduce a country’s
chance of relapsing into war to 27% (Collier, Hoeffler and
Söderbom, 2006:10)
Our Social Impact
Poverty feeds conflict, and conflict feeds
poverty. (Kapstein; Economics and Conflict: What’s the Connection 2014)
IGNITE Fund finances and supports ambitious and innovative entrepreneurs in
fragile and conflict-affected states. Growth of these businesses is critical for the
economic development and the poverty reduction in these environment and
serves as an ultimate insurance against instability and conflict.
Our Investment Thesis
Pioneer
Dividend
Perception
Arbitrage
High Growth
Potential
Uncorrelated
Return
High unmet
Demand
Minimal
Competition
Spark’s 20yr
experiences in
conflict affected
states with our
local offices in
15 countries
provides us with
better
understanding
of investment
landscape
There are
limited
competitions
especially for
less than Euro
400K
transactions –
Companies with
limited asset
but strong cash
flow cannot
access capital
There are pent
up consumer
demand for
products and
services, which
are mostly
imported.
There are
extensive
government and
international
nation building
subsidies and
grant programs
which targets
key industries
Conflict affected
states are also
one of the most
rapidly growing
economies in
the world
Financial
returns in
successful
businesses in
conflict affected
states are
uncorrelated
with the
developed
economies
SPARK, founded in 1993, develops higher education
and entrepreneurship to empower young, ambitious
people to lead their conflict affected societies into
prosperity.
Capacity
Dev &
Business
Incubation
Small
Business
Loans
PE
Investment
Vehicle
SPARK & IGNITE Fund
Over 900 Business
Supported and new
intakes every year
Less than Euro 15K
loans : ~300 loans(Partial Risk Guarantee Instruments
at local banks & Direct Small
Business Loans)
Euro 25Million target
closed-ended fund
structure
Head office: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Field office: Afghanistan, Burundi, Ivory Coasts, Iraq, Kosovo, Libya, Liberia,
Mali, Myanmar, Occupied Palestine Territories, Rwanda, Serbia, South Sudan,
Somalia, Yemen
Spark works in 15 Fragile and post-conflict states around the world
IGNITE Fund Target Countries
Kosovo South Sudan Mali Liberia Rwanda Burundi Somalia Palestine
Our Challenges
Valuation
Transaction
Cost
Deal Exits
Legal
Enforcement
Business Skills
& Governance
Improve stability of
the society
Improve Human
Security
Reduce marginalization of
communities
Improve Local compliance
Increase job creation
Increase Access to basic
services
Improve Equality and
Fairness
•Increase adherence to local standards/rules
•Increase access to services (Healthcare, finance,
Education) to marginalized communities
•Increase income of marginalized communities
•Number of New jobs created
•Improved quality of job for individuals
•Increase predictability of income
•Increase quality of services
•Reduction of barriers to quality of life
•Reduction of discrimination based on: gender, civil status,
family status, age, race, religion, disability, sexual
orientation, membership of marginalized communities
IMPACT OUTCOME METRICS
Reduction of the drivers
and effects of the
conflict
Reduction of social
tensions
Increased cross
community engagement
•Increased cross community understanding of the "other"
•Improved cross community perception of the "other"
•Increase in preference for dialogue as a means to resolve
social tensions
•Increased cross community employment (all levels)
•Increased cross community sales / customers
•Increased business with cross community suppliers
Ref: http://www.clubmadrid.org/en/ssp/resources_on_shared_societies
Impact Measurement
Investment Advisor
Contact us
For more information, please contact us
Stichting Spark
Van Diemenstraat 70
1013 CN Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Office: +31 20 7530311
www.spark-online.org
Steven S Lee
Fund Manager
Email: [email protected]
Marc de Klert
Programmeme Manager
Email: [email protected]
Disclaimers
DISCLAIMERS: The IGNITE Fund is an initiative of SPARK, registered under Dutch law as fonds voor gemene rekening. The
Fund has not been or will not be registered with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The offering and investment in US is
made only to qualified “accredited investors” as defined in Regulation D under U.S. Securities Act. We accepts no liability for the
content of this document, or for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided, unless that
information is subsequently confirmed in writing. Any prospective investors must consult the Fund’s prospectus. Any information
on this document which contradicts the content on the Prospectus is considered an error. Any views or opinions suggested in this
presentation which contradicts or omitted on the Prospective are solely those of the presenter and do not necessarily represent
those of the Fund. This document contains confidential information and is intended only for the intended audience. If you are not
the intended audience, you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this report. If you have received it by mistake, please let us
know by e-mail and delete it from your system; you may not copy this message or disclose its contents to anyone.
Top Related