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Funding for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) reaches a milestone of $100 million, with the European Union's support.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) contributes $18 million to a joint venture, composed of the UBS Optimus Foundation and Bridges Outcomes Partnerships, aimed at funding outcomes-based programs in lower and moderate income nations.

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Funding for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) comes to a close at $100 million, with European...
Funding for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) comes to a close at $100 million, with European Union support.

Funding for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) reaches a milestone of $100 million, with the European Union's support.

The SDG Outcomes Fund, a groundbreaking initiative, combines resources from the UBS Optimus Foundation and Bridges Outcomes Partnerships (BOP) to support outcomes-based programs in low- and middle-income countries. After reaching a final close of $100 million, the fund has demonstrated its potential for scalable, results-driven impact investing.

## Overview

Launched in 2021, the Article 9 fund is a blended finance initiative designed to accelerate progress towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The European Investment Bank (EIB) has contributed $18 million to the SDG Outcomes Fund, with funding from the European Commission via the ACP Trust Fund. UBS Optimus Foundation provides first-loss capital, while BOP acts as the portfolio and delivery manager, enabling a collaborative approach to achieving measurable social and environmental outcomes.

## Investment Strategy

The SDG Outcomes Fund operates on an outcomes-based model, where payments are made only upon verified achievement of social and environmental outcomes. This approach incentivizes effective program delivery and ensures that funding is tied directly to impact. The fund focuses on supporting programs in Africa and Asia, with a particular emphasis on health, education, women’s economic empowerment, and environmental protection.

## Impact and Achievements

To date, the fund has disbursed nearly $13.5 million in outcome payments, benefiting hundreds of thousands of people. Notable achievements include the Kenya Health Outcomes Partnership (KHOP), a programme supported by the SDG Outcomes Fund, which has delivered over 1.5 million sexual and reproductive health services to over 700,000 girls aged 15-19 in Kenya, beating its HIV and family planning delivery targets nine months in advance.

Additionally, the SDG Outcomes Fund has provided IT upskilling and employment opportunities for over 800 long-term unemployed young adults in Türkiye. In Africa, the fund has supported more than 100,000 children in Sierra Leone and Ghana. The fund's focus on hyper-localised, bottom-up outcomes enables funding to be more effective and achieves genuinely person-centred and community-centred outcomes.

## Model and Replication

The SDG Outcomes Fund represents a pioneering blended finance model, combining different types of capital to accelerate progress towards the SDGs. The fund's model creates transparency around how public money and development capital is being spent for outcomes while also creating investment opportunities for private capital in sectors and geographies that didn't exist before. The EIB has expressed interest in replicating this model to unlock large-scale financing and deliver meaningful impact.

The SDG Outcomes Fund has collected 3,000 tons of plastic waste for recycling in Nigeria, demonstrating its potential for addressing environmental challenges in low- and middle-income countries. The fund has generated a lot of interest from ministers and business leaders from several countries, as stated by Tom Hall, global head of social impact and philanthropy for UBS and CEO of the UBS Optimus Foundation.

In conclusion, the SDG Outcomes Fund offers a unique approach to impact investing, focusing on outcomes rather than traditional inputs or activities. By incentivizing effective program delivery and ensuring that funding is tied directly to impact, the fund demonstrates its potential for scalable, results-driven impact investing in low- and middle-income countries.

  1. The SDG Outcomes Fund, combining resources from UBS Optimus Foundation and Bridges Outcomes Partnerships, is a blended finance initiative that focuses on outcomes-based programs in low- and middle-income countries, attracting venture capital and development finance to accelerate progress towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
  2. The European Investment Bank (EIB) has contributed $18 million to the SDG Outcomes Fund, with funding from the European Commission via the ACP Trust Fund, indicating a shift towards energy transition and sustainable development in finance.
  3. After reaching a final close of $100 million, the SDG Outcomes Fund has invested in various business sectors, including health, education, women’s economic empowerment, and environmental protection, demonstrating the potential for scalable, results-driven impact investing.
  4. Notable achievements of the SDG Outcomes Fund include the Kenya Health Outcomes Partnership, which has delivered over 1.5 million sexual and reproductive health services, and the collection of 3,000 tons of plastic waste for recycling in Nigeria, showcasing its impact in achieving social and environmental outcomes. The fund's success has generated interest from various ministers and business leaders, making it a model for potential replication in unlocking large-scale financing and delivering meaningful impact.

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