Increasing Investment through Public–Private Cooperation
According to the report “Impact Investment in Spain 2021,” produced by SpainNAB and the Esade Center for Social Impact, capital allocated to impact investment in Spain reached €2.4 billion in assets under management by the end of 2021—12% more than in 2020. These figures illustrate both the sector’s potential in building a new economic model and the need to continue increasing financial resources in this field.
Carmen Basagoiti, President of Harmon, noted that “events like today’s create meeting points between different political forces and allow civil society to bring an institutional collaboration perspective.” She called for “a strong commitment and push from the public sector to make this possible,” concluding that “what remained was to place the impact economy on the public agenda—and today we’ve taken that first step.”
The Public Administration plays a key role in attracting private investors to the sector and providing greater legal certainty. Key factors for the growth of impact investment include a stronger public-sector presence, the development of standardised methodologies for impact measurement and management, and an increase in institutional investors.
Public institutions can channel investment into projects aligned with societal challenges, help achieve the 2030 Agenda and sustainability strategies, and strengthen the capacity of the third and fourth sectors. Impact investment is also a central mechanism for deploying Next Generation EU Funds.
In this regard, César Cantalapiedra, Partner at Afi, observed that “public administrations now have the opportunity to design policies that support sustainable growth and employment. Spain’s receipt of a second tranche of the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism should serve to explore ways of boosting impact investment by attracting private capital through blended finance and results-based contracts, also ensuring fiscal sustainability.”
2023: A Pivotal Year for Spain in Advancing the Impact Economy
This event in the Congress marks the beginning of a key year for Spain’s leadership in promoting the impact economy, which will culminate in the GSG Global Impact Summit, to be held in Málaga on 2–3 October 2023. Organised by the Global Steering Group (GSG) and SpainNAB, the summit is the world’s leading annual gathering on impact investment.
The City Council of Málaga will play an important role in the organisation, and the city’s mayor, Francisco de la Torre, delivered the institutional closing remarks at the Congress.
Coinciding with Spain’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the Málaga summit will bring together international professionals and leaders to showcase how innovation and transparency are converging to channel capital flows that address urgent business, political, and social challenges. Its goal: to promote a transition towards economies that generate solutions.
Finally, SpainNAB used the event to present its #CaminoalImpacto Manifesto, aimed at individuals and institutions across the investment, business, third-sector, public-administration, academic, and media communities. The manifesto invites voluntary endorsement and commitment to advancing the “impact economy” within each actor’s field of action.