Nedbank Indalo Fund launched to support eco-entrepreneurs

Poovi Pillay | image supplied

Indalo Inclusive is a non-profit company established to support social, green, inclusive and responsible entrepreneurship in South Africa.

Through its theory of change, Indalo Inclusive emphasises eco-inclusive entrepreneurship as a critical foundation on which the country can build a truly inclusive green economy and focus on the intersection of social, economic and environmental impact.

For the past three years, Nedbank has been working with Indalo Inclusive on the South African Green and Inclusive Awards Programme (Sigia) Indalopreneneurhip Programme to identify and develop such enterprises.

It has assisted 31 enterprises (29 of which are still in business) and created up to 147 jobs to date.

"Building on our successful partnership with Indalo Inclusive, we decided to enhance our eco-entrepreneurial funding model by launching the Nedbank Indalo Fund to disburse impactful incentive and performance-based funding," explains Poovi Pillay, executive head of corporate social responsibility at Nedbank.

"This has important implications as it means we can fund more enterprises with the same capital while, at the same time validating qualifying enterprises as investment-worthy businesses, thereby increasing their chances of accessing additional funding from other sources."

The Nedbank Indalo Fund will also target multiple measurable environmental impacts across energy reduction, water savings, waste reduction, and agricultural yield.