The GSG Impact Partnership is a global network of 43 national partners representing 48 countries, more than half in emerging markets.
These partners diagnose their national ecosystems to identify gaps, bottlenecks and leverage points in their bid to build impact economies — where social and environmental impact are at the heart of every political, investment, business and consumption decision.
Below, we share some of the latest insights from the GSG Impact Partnership network.
Progress in Mexico and Colombia
New studies from Mexico and Colombia have assessed the state of play in two of the region’s biggest markets.
The first estimate of the impact investment market in Mexico shows that the number of organizations engaging in impact investing more than tripled between 2019 and 2024 to more than 130, with combined impact assets under management between $1.39 billion and $1.72 billion. Agriculture, health and the circular economy are emerging as the major sectors, with opportunities for growth in affordable housing, the care economy and underserved regions.
Colombia’s latest market sizing finds that impact investors managed $457 million at the end of 2023, more than double 2021 levels. The country hosts 69 organizations classed as impact investors, with nearly 60% meeting or exceeding their impact targets. Agriculture and rural development, education and renewable energy are the most commonly invested sectors.
Dutch reports examine institutional capital for impact
The Dutch National Advisory Board’s latest report on pension fund involvement in impact investing finds a growing willingness, even among several of the largest funds, to take up smaller ticket sizes. In the past, small ticket sizes have limited institutional investing in emerging markets. Impact is an increasing focus for the country’s pension funds, especially when it comes to climate action, the energy transition, infrastructure and real estate.
A new report from the National Advisory Board, Real Impact with Real Estate, describes how cooperation among investors, developers, municipalities and national authorities, particularly in the form of shared definitions and measurements, is required to improve the supply, affordability and climate alignment of housing in the country.
Family offices in India gain prominence
The Impact Investors Council recently published Seeds of Change: How Impact Capital is Cultivating India’s Agri Tech Ecosystem. The report notes that high-net-worth families now contribute 40% of private philanthropy in India, with 300 families active in 2024, compared to 45 in 2018. Despite this fact, only 20% of those who started impact investing in 2021 remain active today, suggesting that more needs to be done to support a long-term approach.
Advancing blended finance in Israel
In the first major report on the subject in Hebrew, the Israeli Forum for Impact Economy has made recommendations for advancing blended finance funds in Israel. It positions blended finance as a way to solve numerous challenges. The approach can increase investment to sectors and regions suffering from insufficient financing that is fit for purpose. It can address perceptions of high risk relative to return expectations. And it can meet a shortage of flexible investment instruments. The report cites case studies of what’s already working within the country.
Toolkit for banks to increase SME lending
INVEST: The Process & Toolkit helps banks and other funders understand the SME market that forms the backbone of emerging economies, but where limited access to finance constrains growth. The toolkit makes the business case for how commercial banks can unlock a $5.7 trillion market by targeting this underserved sector. It also guides banks on how to get started and highlights how their involvement can increase employment in low- and middle-income countries, improve gender equality and extend economic opportunity to underserved regions. Dalberg, ConsumerCentriX and GSG Impact developed this resource with support from the Argidius Foundation.
Together these updates underscore the growing sophistication of national impact ecosystems across regions, asset classes and capital providers. They also highlight the work required to sustain momentum, from sharing knowledge to aligning incentives.
Elizabeth Boggs Davidsen is CEO of GSG Impact.
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