This fellowship is designed to equip impact investing practitioners in Africa with actionable systems thinking methodologies. This fellowship moves beyond conceptual awareness to provide concrete tools and practices for integrating a systemic lens into investment strategy, deal design, and impact measurement and management (IMM). Through interactive application, real-world examples, and participatory exercises, participants will learn to reframe their approaches to foster complexity, collaboration, and long-term transformation, ultimately enabling them to design transactions that contribute to bigger, systemic change across the continent.
Target Audience
Mid-to-senior level professionals within the African impact investing ecosystem who are in a position to influence strategy, investment decisions, and organisational processes.
Why Join?
The fellowship aim to equip participants with:
- Move from Theory to Actionable Tools: Gain concrete frameworks and methodologies—like systems mapping and theories of change—that you can immediately apply to your investments, strategies, and programs.
- Design Investments for Deeper and Lasting Impact: Learn to identify leverage points and structure deals that contribute to transformative system change, not just isolated outcomes.
- Enhance Your Risk Management & Resilience: Anticipate unintended consequences, understand feedback loops, and build adaptive strategies that make your portfolio more robust in volatile markets.
- Join a Pan-African Peer Network: Collaborate with and learn from a curated cohort of mid-to-senior professionals from across the impact ecosystem—foundations, funds, DFIs, and corporates—expanding your professional community.
- Learn from World-Leading Institutions: Benefit from the unique combination of AVPA’s deep on-the-ground African network and expertise and Oxford Saïd’s globally renowned academic rigour and thought leadership.
- Improve Your Impact Communication: Learn to articulate and evidence your contribution to systemic change, creating compelling narratives for boards, investors, and stakeholders.
- Develop a Tailored Action Plan: Graduate with a personalised “Systems-Lens Action Plan” to directly implement learnings in your organisation, ensuring a tangible return on your educational investment.
Gain a Competitive Edge in the Market: Position yourself and your organisation at the forefront of the next evolution in impact investing, where systems thinking is becoming a key differentiator for leadership and capital allocation.