Investing for Peace (I4P) Initiative Federal Foreign Office
Investing for Peace (I4P) Initiative United Nations_Logo

Innovative Financing for Peace:

Towards a framework for peace-positive investments

On 20 October 2022, the German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO)
and the UN Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) convened about
80 participants (onsite in Berlin and online) to discuss practices
and approaches that could underpin a peace-positive investment
framework.

Participants came from a wide range of backgrounds including
foreign ministries and permanent missions; development finance
institutions; non-governmental organisations; universities; and
private investment funds.

The meeting was held under Chatham House rules. Comments are
accordingly not attributed to individuals or institutions, except
where this was explicitly agreed to in advance.

International Conference on Investing for Peace GFFO & UN PBSO

CONFERENCE SUMMARY

Three key next steps that were highlighted during the conference are:

  • Continuation of the development of a framework for peace-positive investment in a broad-based collaboration between UN, governments, development finance institutions and civil society. Participants appreciated the frank exchanges of sometimes different perspectives on what is a complex topic and expressed interest in continuing the conversation. The African Development Bank (AfdB) offered to host a follow-on discussion at the 2023 Africa Resilience Forum as a next milestone.
  • GFFO and UN PBSO will continue working with relevant stakeholders to test a draft peace impact framework, to develop impact metrics and to support a community of practice on peacebuilding and private sector investment, contributing to emerging principles and standards.
  • GFFO plans to allocate funding, in collaboration with the UN, to explore the launch of a specialized peace finance vehicle in collaboration with donors, development finance institutions and civil society. The vehicle is intended to pioneer the practical application of a peace impact framework and help mobilise DFI and donor funds into peace-positive investments, contributing to overcoming some of the challenges that currently prevent investors from doing more.

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Opening Statements

“Only in recent years the notion has taken hold that companies and their investors must make a net addition to the local capital stock in order to foster peace, creating adequate opportunities for incoming generations and growth. (…) We must shift our mindset from funding to financing, empowering local stakeholders in the process. This can only be done through close cooperation among governments, investors, local communities and civil society, with the critical support of the United Nations.”
Ellen Johnson SirleafFormer President of Liberia and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
“Given the critical prevention and peacebuilding funding gap (..). We will have to pursue all financing options in order to meaningfully address growing peacebuilding needs, including through the private sector. (…) Investment processes in fragile and conflict affected countries should therefore (...) be underpinned by a clear commitment to peace principles and help to reduce the drivers of conflict in a society.”
Elizabeth SpeharUN Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support
“We want to put even more emphasis on garnering support for investments in peace – from peacemaking to peacekeeping, peacebuilding and prevention. (…) The private sector can be instrumental in supporting peace in conflict-affected settings. It can generate peace impact by increasing the opportunity costs of conflict.”
Susanne BaumannState Secretary of the German Federal Foreign Office
Previous
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Below are our summaries of views and perspectives expressed during discussions at the conference. They reflect the wide range of backgrounds of participants and, while they are not necessarily shared by the German Federal Foreign Office or the United Nations, they present arguments and insights that should be taken into consideration as we continue to explore this important topic in partnership with others.  

CONFERENCE SUMMARY

  • Session 1: Why a new framework for peace-positive investments in fragile and conflict-affected settings?
  • Especially land-intensive investments in mining, infrastructure or agriculture can be peace negative, rather than positive, even if they make a contribution to the economy overall.
  • There are examples of longstanding and profitable investments that catalysed very little change in communities at the “wrong end” of the supply chain. Too often, current investment approaches — despite the often considerable consideration given to business integrity, ESG and principles of responsible investment — exacerbate divisions and inequalities rather than contribute to promoting economic and social peace.
  • For investments – and the private sector more generally – to have a lasting positive impact, the focus needs to be on social cohesion, institutionalizing new ways of decision-making and accountability.
  • Creation of shared prosperity is crucial and must go beyond abstract notions that developing economies will automatically contribute to peace, especially as growth on its own can actually increase the gap between “winners” and “losers”.
  • The private sector is usually a major contributor to national income, a key employer, an important provider of goods and services. It is well established that peace and development are inextricably linked, and that the private sector can play a key role in peacebuilding. The landmark UN-World Bank Pathways for Peace report for example stressed the “collectively powerful” role of small and medium-sized businesses in shaping peace incentives.
  • The linkage between the private sector and peacebuilding is also recognized in the UN General Assembly resolution on peacebuilding financing, which encourages the UN Secretary-General to develop a strategy for resource mobilization from the private sector for peacebuilding. It also encourages member states to explore new innovative approaches to bring in public and private financing towards peacebuilding.
  • The potential is enormous: incubator hubs are fostering entrepreneurship, there is immense human capital, a wealth of local knowledge, and numerous initiatives and ideas. The private sector can play a crucial role in supporting and financing those initiatives, especially when the public sector lacks capacity.
  • Consultation and mediated approaches are at the core of what it means to pursue private sector development in a peace-positive way.
  • Beyond mere dialogue, however, there needs to be a shift of the balance of power: decisions, assessments and evaluations need to be based on local perspectives and local needs, rather than simply consideration of short-term commercial interest. Civil society or community representatives should be part of the governance structures of projects, to ensure true local ownership. In the medium to long-term this also makes good business sense as it helps mitigate important risks.
  • Governments, investors and the United Nations need to work together with local partners, engaging civil society and academia, at the individual and country level, to identify strategies for peace positive private sector development where investments can be identified that can help address drivers of conflict and enable the private sector to play a more constructive role and to contribute to lasting peace.
  • A wealth of research and guidelines, principles and standards is already available, for example regarding business and human rights.
  • At the same time, there is considerable expertise about what ‘peace’ is. The underlying challenge is “not a lack of understanding”— there is enough evidence for investment institutions to meaningfully assess and manage peace impact.
  • How do we translate this knowledge into the investment process? And beyond the development of frameworks, how can incentives be strengthened to ensure that existing frameworks are implemented and that peace becomes part of the equation?
  • From this point of view, the goal should be to develop processes and partnerships to tap already-existing expertise.
  • Several leading bilateral and multi-lateral DFIs have recently revisited their strategies for investing in fragile and conflict environments and they are exploring how to adjust the way they do business in these settings
  • While the language of ‘peace positive investment’ is still new to DFIs, they are increasingly looking to ensure that investments are conflict sensitive, comply with principles of business integrity, environmental, social and governance standards, human rights standards and, in some instances, that they go beyond more traditional ‘do no harm’ approaches
  • New fora for collaboration are being established among DFIs to share learnings and enhance mutual understanding of fragile markets and enhance the way DFIs engage in ‘upstream’ initiatives to improve the investment environment and build a pipeline of investible projects that can more easily fulfil minimum investment criteria for DFIs. These initiatives including the DFI Fragility Forum at Oxford led by the African Development Bank, British International Investment and the International Finance Corporation in collaboration with the International Growth Centre (ICG) and the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University, and the Africa Resilience Investment Accelerator (ARIA).
  • Linking commercial return, financial and reputational risk and peace impact makes investing in conflict-affected places challenging. The risk profile of investments may be significantly different from institutions’ overall exposure and require heightened flexibility on related due diligence processes.
  • Peace-positivity will need to be balanced or traded-off with traditional criteria of risk and commercial prospects. The Sustainable Development Goals however already had a “transformative” impact on how investments were valued.
  • The unpredictability that is a necessary feature in such situations needs to be integrated into the investment approach – peace impact assessment should become a standard component of investment processes.
  • Donors can help overcome financial barriers to peace-positive investments by supporting the appropriate use of blending – the deployment of concessional resources or grant funding alongside investment capital – to contribute to de-risking investments, and to ensure that peace impact is incentivised in proportion to its social benefits.
  • Currently, there is no prescriptive guidance for investors to integrate the question of peace impact into decision-making processes or operations. Widely used approaches for ESG, such as the IFC Performance Standards, do not give specific guidance about conflict and peace.
  • Without such a framework, it will be hard to build trust in the market. Also, the risk of ‘peace-washing’ increases without a strong theory of change that can be integrated in the investment strategy.
  • There are numerous examples of investments in fragile contexts that went under because of a neglect of conflict risk analysis at the due diligence stage of the investment. From a purely financial perspective, investors need to make sure they understand the political and social consequences of their activities.
  • Examples of the application of peace impact frameworks do exist, such as the emerging work that links special-purpose financing instruments with third-party measurement of peace impact.
  • Positive impact is possible, but not inevitable.
  • While there are generic “theories of change” for the links between business and peace, these must be situated in concrete political, geographic and demographic circumstances. Conflict analysis and conflict sensitive approaches are key – something that is causing peace in one place, might be causing conflict in another.
  • Process matters, and success would depend in part on peoples’ perceptions and lived experiences of the investment life cycle. Peace-positive investment therefore cannot be reduced to simple “checklist”-style metrics.
  • Emerging practice suggests that the following factors are especially relevant (see also Peace Impact Framework developed by Investing for Peace Feasibility Study, 2022): (i) gathering evidence from partners with expertise in peace and conflict; (ii) development of an overall market strategy beyond individual deals; (iii) new measures in transaction diligence and structuring; and (iv) post-investment support.
  • Session 2: How do we develop a harmonized framework, in practice, for peace-positive investments?
  • The private sector is a stakeholder in any society, the major contributor to national income, a key employer, an important provider of goods and services. These contributions are essential in stable societies; they are needed even more in conflict-affected contexts.
  • The private sector is an influential actor in conflict and post-conflict societies. It is present on the ground, and, if making profits, can contribute to political, economic and social sustainability. When countries are emerging from conflict, the private sector should be able to contribute to peace processes, the issue of private sector development should be part of the agenda. This would help align the private sector with broader peacebuilding goals from the beginning.
  • The linkage between the private sector and peacebuilding is recognized in the UNGA resolution on peacebuilding financing, which encourages the SG to develop a strategy for resource mobilization from the private sector for peacebuilding and also encourages member states to explore new innovative approaches to bring in public and private financing towards peacebuilding.
  • Four major steps would help to enhance the peace impact of investments (see Peace Impact Framework developed in Investing for Peace Feasibility Study, 2022): (i) Context-specific conflict and private sector analysis, drawing on the best available evidence; (ii) Peace-positive investment strategy, identifying high-potential sectors and regions, explicitly defining the “theory of change” for how private sector development can address known conflict drivers; (iii) Transaction diligence and structuring regarding both commercial viability and peace impact; (iv) Post-investment support and accountability, including partnerships to reinforce peace-positive business practices, monitoring of business-level key performance indicators, and peace impact evaluation at portfolio level.
  • Premise of the framework: attempt to approach investment from a problem perspective, instead of just searching for a profitable deal: “Which issue do we want to address with investment x or y?”

 

“Positive impact is possible, but not inevitable. It is complex – something that is causing peace in one place might be causing conflict in another. Therefore, conflict analysis is essential. You have to start getting local and contextual. You have to create something which is flexible and context- specific.”

  • A specific peace impact framework for investment is important – even if standards and best practices already exist. This should not just apply to the initial investment decision, but also to the actual operations, impact measurement and assessment .
  • There is currently no prescriptive guidance for investors to integrate peace – or social impact more generally – into their decision-making processes and, later, into operations. Widely used approaches for ESG, such as the IFC Performance Standards, do not give specific guidance about conflict and peace.
  • Without such a framework, it will be hard to build trust in the market. Also, the risk of ‘peace-washing’ increases without a strong theory of change that can be integrated in the investment strategy.
  • Currently, we have no standardized way of measuring peace impact of investments, beyond M&E results, which tend to be qualitative in nature. Investment officers look at project size, economics, even environmental impact, but there is no framework regarding the impact measurability in relation to peacebuilding of investments.
  • There are numerous examples of investments in fragile contexts that went under because of a neglect of conflict risk analysis at the due diligence stage of the investment. From a purely financial perspective, investors need to make sure they understand the political and social consequences of their activities. Peace impact assessment should become a standard component of investment processes.
  • Practical approaches work best – linking green finance and gender finance with peace, for example. Examples of the successful application of peace impact frameworks do exist (such as the framework developed by Energy Peace Partners, which allows valuing peace locally at project level and quantifying and measuring peace impacts).

 

A specific peace impact framework for investment would be incredibly helpful – even if relevant standards already exist (e.g. on business and human rights), we need a concrete plan to translate those into practice and help establish clear incentives for investment officers to factor peace into their procedures.

  • Linking commercial return, financial and reputational risk and peace impact makes it challenging to invest in conflict-affected countries. Costs per transaction tend to be higher; risks more difficult to appreciate and generally perceived as higher; and peace impact not recognised within valuation processes. The unpredictability that is a necessary feature in such situations needs to be integrated into the investment approach, so it does not become a stumbling block along the way. Donors can help overcome financial barriers to peace-positive investments by de-risking investments via blended finance, thus expanding the universe of bankable transactions in fragile contexts.
  • How to reach stakeholders that are profiting from the way they are operating now? We need to contribute to a public discourse that engages all actors, public and private, around the questions of business and peace. Over time, more and more boards of pension funds and insurance companies and other major players, representing huge amounts of investible funds, will start picking up these terms and concepts. If we can give them the conceptual and practical guidelines to engage with these questions in the right way, it will be a huge step forward.
  • Next Steps

The exchange will continue, with the AfdB offering to host a follow-on discussion at the 2023 Africa Resilience Forum as a next milestone.

The GFFO and the UN emphasized their commitment to support practical efforts to operationalize peace-positive investments, inviting others to join.
In particular, the GFFO plans to allocate several million EUR, in collaboration with the UN, to explore the launch of a specialized peace-positive
investment vehicle. The intent is to build a lean structure with the right operational capacities for investment management and pooled financing
in conflict-affected contexts, with operations guided by the peace impact framework.

The GFFO and UN PBSO will also continue working with relevant stakeholders to test the existing peace impact framework and develop impact
metrics and support a community of practice on peacebuilding and private sector investment, contributing to emerging principles and standards. 

  • Next meeting in 2023
  • Working Group to develop Peace Impact Framework
  • UN-led Community of Practice on innovative financing for peacebuilding
  • Implementation of peace-positive investments
  • Building of partnerships

Summary and Next Steps

“In 2023, we will be pleased to continue today’s conversation on the occasion of the 5th edition of the Africa Resilience Forum […], which provides a platform for all stakeholders to come together again to discuss issues related to peace-positive investing. In the meantime, we should see how we can already apply some of the principles and frameworks we discussed today in our day-to-day operations.”

Frederik Teufel

Lead Coordinator, African Development Bank (AfDB)

“There is a need to bridge communities of practice, making sure we speak each other’s languages. The Peacebuilding Support Office is committed to continue building these bridges and to support this dialogue, so that together, we can strengthen policy and practice of peace-positive investments.”



Marcus Lenzen

Deputy Chief of the UN Peacebuilding Fund

Closing Statement

“What can be concrete measures to take? First of all, we will continue to support the development of a framework for peace positive investments (…), also looking to test the current framework against existing investments in fragile states. Secondly, we will support continued work on establishing peace finance standards for the international financial market through the Finance for Peace Initiative. It is important that these standards be measurable, so we will also continue to invest in research on peace impact indicators. Thirdly and most importantly, we will continue, in collaboration with the United Nations, to discuss the possibility to develop a specialized peace-positive investment vehicle for fragile states. For this purpose, we have already reserved a few millions (…) which we would like to invest.”
Deike PotzelDirector-General at the Federal Foreign Office

Agenda

Behrenstraße 42, 10117 Berlin

Welcome remarks by
Susanne Baumann, State Secretary of the German Federal Foreign Office
Elizabeth Spehar, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support

Keynote address: A vision for peace-positive investments in fragile and conflict-affected settings
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former President of Liberia, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate

Why a new framework for peace-positive investments in fragile and conflict-affected settings?

Guiding questions:

    • What can we learn from successful examples of conflict-sensitive approaches to investment?
    • Which factors have proven most relevant in practice to ensuring that investments have a positive impact on peace, and that potentially negative consequences are mitigated?
    • How can local partnerships be strengthened for strategy development, impact assessment and local business development? And how can these strategies be better aligned with national peace and private sector development strategies?

 

Thematic impulse: Are investments in fragile states peace positive? Review of available evidence,
Tommaso Sonno, University of Bologna

Introductory presentation: The challenges of peace-positive private sector development and investment
Brian Ganson, Stellenbosch University

Panelists:
Frederik Teufel, African Development Bank AfDB
Kathryn Nwajiaku-Dahou, ODI
Jeroen Harteveld, Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO)

Moderator:
Pierre van Hoeylandt, Natural Heritage Capital

How do we develop a harmonized framework, in practice, for peace-positive investments?

Guiding questions:

    • What might a framework for peace-positive investments look like, as in what is needed to ensure that investments move beyond do-no-harm towards peace impact?
    • What are ways of harmonizing tools and setting standards to ensure that investments build on a peace-positive investment strategy?
    • How can peace actors share their experiences related to peace indicators to contribute to the development of international standards around ESG?
    • How do we measure investment impact in terms of peace, and how do we identify opportunities and risks relevant to all company stakeholders, including local populations?
    • What, if any, role could the United Nations, civil society, and independent observers play in the process?
    • How do we avoid a future scenario where “peace washing” (in the style of “green washing”) could take place?

 

Introductory Remarks: Measuring private sector contribution to peacebuilding
Mathu Joyini, Permanent Representative of South Africa to the United Nations

Presentation: Introduction of a “Peace Impact Framework” for peace-positive investment
Christopher Egerton-Warburton, Lion’s Head Global Partners (LHGP)

Panelists:
Vivianne Infante, Director, Africa Resilience Investment Accelerator (ARIA)
David Mozersky, Energy Peace Partners
Daniel Hyslop, Interpeace

Moderator:
Aanchal Bhatia, United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO)

Summary and next steps
Marcus Lenzen, Deputy Chief Peacebuilding Fund, United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO)
Frederik Teufel, Lead Coordinator – Partnerships, Innovation, Private Sector Development, African Development Bank (AfDB)

Closing
Deike Potzel, Director General of the German Federal Foreign Office for Crisis Prevention, Stabilisation, Peacebuilding and Humanitarian Assistance

Behrenstraße 42, 10117 Berlin

  • How can we conceptualize private sector investments that are profitable and contribute to peace? How can investors and private sector actors ensure that their ventures support national peacebuilding strategies and meet local priorities?
  • What are private sector practices that make a positive contribution to local peace processes instead of exacerbating negative effects? Which steps could we take towards developing common principles, standards, and tools to ensure that investments in fragile and conflict affected settings are peace-positive?

Speaker bios

Welcome Remark

Baumann

Susanne Baumann

State Secretary of the German Federal Foreign Office
After training for the higher intermediate Foreign Service and studying law at the University of Bonn, Susanne Baumann entered the higher Foreign Service in 1993. Following various posts in Cambodia, Kosovo and Malaysia, she worked as a political adviser at the Federal Ministry of Defence and as a head of division at the Federal Chancellery. Before being appointed State Secretary in December 2021, she was the Federal Government Commissioner for Disarmament and Arms Control and Head of the Directorate-General for International Order, the United Nations and Arms Control at the Federal Foreign Office.
Elisabeth_Spehar

Elizabeth Spehar

UN Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support
Elizabeth Spehar of Canada is the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support, in the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs. With more than 35 years of experience in international and political affairs, Ms. Spehar has worked in United Nations Headquarters and in the field, leading political, development, peacebuilding and conflict prevention initiatives. Most recently, since 2016, she was the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), also serving as Deputy to the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus. Previously, Ms. Spehar was Director of the Policy and Mediation Division in the former Department of Political Affairs, now DPPA, where she worked on policy and operational matters related to conflict prevention, mediation, peacebuilding and gender mainstreaming. Before joining the United Nations, Ms. Spehar was a senior official with the Organization of American States (OAS) for more than 12 years, working to promote democracy and develop the organization’s dialogue and conflict resolution instruments.

Panel I

Tommas Sonno

Tommaso Sonno

Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Bologna Speaker
Tommaso Sonno is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Bologna. He is also Associate at the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics, and Adjunct Professor at Bocconi University, Johns Hopkins SAIS, and the Italian Institute for International Political Studies. His research focuses on international economics, political economy, and development economics. He has studied the relationship between trade and conflicts, and global value networks. He is currently analysing the impact of multinational enterprises on violence, the environment, and labour force participation in developing countries. His research focuses also on the organizational dynamics of business groups. He has been giving time and attention to managing an NGO active in Burkina Faso for more than ten years, by designing and coordinating charity projects on education, health, social inclusion, microcredit, and traditional medicine.
Frederik Teufel

Frederik Teufel

Lead Coordinator, African Development Bank (AfDB) Speaker
Frederik Teufel is the Lead Coordinator in the Transition States Coordination Office at the African Development Bank (AfDB). In this role, he is promoting the role of the private sector to build a resilient and peaceful continent, leveraging public and private finance instruments and advancing business environment reforms. In response to elevated and accelerating conflict risk in Africa, Frederik is currently coordinating the development of Security-Indexed Investment Bonds to raise finance at scale through the capital markets for investments that contribute to peace and security. Frederik has more than 15 years of experience in development finance with a focus on Africa and Latin America where he managed and evaluated projects, facilitated investments in frontier markets, and carried out political economy assessments. Prior to his current position, he was the Advisor to AfDB’s Vice-President for Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery, supporting the implementation of the Bank’s lending program. Frederik is the author of AfDB’s 2014-2021 Strategy for Addressing Fragility and Building Resilience in Africa and holds a Master’s Degree in International Business and Cultural Studies from the University of Passau, Germany.

Jeroen Harteveld

Portfolio Manager for MASSIF, Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO)
Speaker
Jeroen Harteveld is the Portfolio Manager for MASSIF, the financial inclusion fund that FMO manages on behalf of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The fund has a strong focus to support financial intermediates in Fragile States and conflict affected regions. MASSIF has over 130 active investments spread over 40 countries of which a significant part is in FSCs. Jeroen has been working at FMO for 18 years. In this timeframe he worked as an Investment Officer in FMO’s Financial Institutions department. Prior, he worked at various other departments, including, Infrastructure, Manufacturing & Services and the Emerging Markets Fund. Jeroen is a Chartered Controller and has a master as well as an executive master in Finance & Control from Nyenrode Business University, The Netherlands.
Brian Ganson

Brian Ganson

Professor and Head of the Centre on Conflict & Collaboration (CCC), Stellenbosch Business School
Speaker
Brian Ganson is Professor and Head of the Centre on Conflict & Collaboration (CCC) at the Stellenbosch Business School. CCC is a platform for research and dialogue at the nexus of business, conflict and development. It works with business, government, labour and communities to reduce the costs of conflict and increase collaborative opportunities. Prof. Ganson concurrently holds appointments as Professor in the Stellenbosch University School for Data Science and Research Professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO). He co-leads the Business & Conflict Research Initiative, an international consortium expanding the frontiers of understanding of business, conflict, and peaceful development through the tools of data science. He has co-authored numerous books and articles, including most recently in the Academy of Management Review, Global Strategy Journal, and Harvard Business Review. His work helps emerging economies and post-conflict societies to find more peace- and development-positive pathways for private sector development.
Kathryn Nwajiaku

Kathryn Nwajiaku-Dahou

Director, Overseas Development Institute (ODI)
Speaker
Dr Kathryn Nwajiaku-Dahou is the Director of ODI’s Politics and Governance programme and a widely acknowledged as an expert on business and peace / conflict for over 25 years. She recently co-authored the ODI’s forthcoming report on MSME-led private sector development support in context of conflict, fragility and displacement (for KfW). Kathryn previously worked for the OECD for five years, as Head of the Secretariat of the International Dialogue on Peacebuilding, where she oversaw research and institutional investor engagement on how to increase responsible investment in fragile states (2017) and DAC engagement on OECD’s Responsible Business portfolio. She also co-authored the OECD’s State of Fragility Report (2015). Kathryn is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of RAID (Rights and Accountability in Development/ https://www.raid-uk.org/), which holds businesses accountable for human rights. Kathryn holds a PhD in Politics and International Relations from the University of Oxford (Nuffield College).
Pierre van Hoeylandt

Pierre van Hoeylandt

Chief Executive, Natural Heritage Capital
Moderator
Pierre is a Senior Adviser to the German Federal Foreign Office and to GFFO's Stabelisation Platform. He is also the Chief Executive of Natural Heritage Capital, a specialist investment management business focused on pioneering investment strategies that support climate and biodiversity in Africa. He has over 25 years’ experience in development finance, investment banking and consulting, including with CDC Group plc, McKinsey & Company and Goldman Sachs. As former Head of Frontier Investments and later Director for special projects at British International Investment (BII, formerly CDC) from 2013 to 2020 he was responsible for BII’s investments in fragile states and for exploring innovative blended finance instruments in a variety of sectors. In the early 2000s, he was the founder and CEO of the first private equity fund in Afghanistan and CEO of a logistics business in Nigeria. Early in his career he worked as a journalist during the civil wars in Bosnia, Somalia and Rwanda in the 1990s and, in 1995, spent time in the UN Department of Peacekeeping operations under Kofi Annan. Pierre holds a D.Phil in International Relations from Oxford University where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He is fluent in German, French, and English. He lives with his wife and son in Cape Town, South Africa.

Panel II

Mathu_Joyini

Mathu Joyini

South Africa’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations
Speaker
Ambassador Mathu Joyini is South Africa’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations. Prior to this position, she served as the Head of the Diplomatic Academy in the Department of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa. She has also served as South Africa’s High Commissioner to six CARICOM countries and a Permanent Representative to the International Seabed Authority. Ambassador Joyini holds a Masters Degree in Social Work as well as a Masters Degree in Business Administration.
Viviane_Infante

Vivianne Infante

Director, ARIA (Africa Resilience Investment Accelerator)
Speaker
Vivianne is a member of British International Investment’s (BII) Africa Coverage Team. She is currently Director for ARIA (Africa Resilience Investment Accelerator), a G7 DFI initiative led by BII. Since 2015, she has also been BII’s Country Director for Ethiopia (covering Horn of Africa) and DRC, countries where she lived from 2015 until 2021. Her investment coverage responsibilities include deal origination, portfolio management support and all the representative responsibilities typical of such role. Some of her latest achievements include the launch and development of ARIA as an international DFI initiative platform pertaining to frontier and fragility issues, as well as being country lead for two of largest ever closed BII equity investments. Vivianne qualified as corporate Solicitor in England and Wales in 2004 and worked at the City law firm White & Case as a Project Finance and International Arbitration lawyer. She is passionate about private sector development issues in the African continent and, in addition to DRC and Ethiopia, she has worked and lived in Nigeria (as counsel at the Nigerian sovereign wealth fund (NSIA) for the largest PPP infrastructure project in the country at the time), and as corporate lawyer in Ghana (as corporate international counsel having worked on the first oil exploration transaction at the time).

Daniel Hyslop

Head of Research and Senior
Peacebuilding Advisor, Interpeace
Speaker
Daniel Hyslop is the Head of Research and Senior Peacebuilding Advisor at Interpeace, an International Organisation for Peacebuilding headquartered in Geneva. He leads Interpeace’s Finance for Peace initiative that seeks to catalyse more peace promotional private sector investment in fragile countries through new financial structures, standards, frameworks and partnerships. He has developed and supported a variety of Interpeace’s policy initiatives such as the peace responsiveness facility that works with various UN agencies on developing more peace responsive development and humanitarian approaches. He has helped establish various multistakeholder and policy efforts such as the Principles for Peace and Rethinking Stabilisation initiatives that seek to create new approaches to improving the effectiveness of international peacebuilding approaches. Previously, he authored widely cited research on the economic costs of violence and measurement of peace and positive peace. For several years he led development of the Global Peace Index and has contributed to several flagship studies on international peacebuilding policy such as the OECD States of Fragility Report and UN-World Bank Pathways for Peace report. He has consulted to the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank and Commonwealth Secretariat and worked with various UN agencies on their peacebuilding approaches.

Christopher Egerton-Warburton

Founding Partner and Chair, Lion's Head Global Partners
Speaker
Christopher Egerton-Warburton is a Founding Partner and Chair of Lion’s Head Global Partners, a frontier market focused investment banking platform that is authorised and regulated by the FCA. Christopher has led Lion’s Head Global Partners’ work in the field of post-conflict investment in the Middle East since 2016 and has led the diligence of transactions in Afghanistan. At a multilateral level Christopher helped to establish a number of innovative financing vehicles including the International Financing Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm), the Global Health Investment Fund (GHIF), and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). Prior to establishing Lion’s Head Global Partners in 2008, Christopher spent 14 years at Goldman Sachs within the Debt Capital Markets group. In his last role he was Head of the Sovereign, Supranational and Agency team. Christopher holds an MA in Biochemistry from Christ Church College at Oxford University.
David Mozersky

David Mozersky

President and co-founder of Energy Peace Partner (EPP)
Speaker
David Mozersky is the President and co-founder of Energy Peace Partner (EPP), an organization built around the idea of leveraging climate and finance solutions to promote peace in fragile regions. He has a background in conflict prevention and peacebuilding, with a focus on the Horn of Africa, and has worked with the International Crisis Group, the African Union High-Implementation Panel on Sudan/South Sudan (AUHIP), and Humanity United, among others. EPP has developed the Peace Renewable Energy Credit (P-REC) as a financing mechanism to support renewable energy projects in countries affected by conflict, climate change and energy poverty. P-RECs link corporate sustainability procurement with high-impact, pro-peace projects in fragile states. To date, corporate P-REC purchases have supported new solar projects in the DRC and South Sudan. EPP is launching the P-REC Aggregation Fund to further scale this mechanism, and developing an M&E framework to measure the peace impacts of renewable energy.
Aanchal_Bhatia

Aanchal Bhatia

Innovative Finance Specialist, UN Peace Building Support Office (PBSO)
Moderator
Aanchal Bhatia is the Innovative Finance Specialist at the UN’s Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO), in the Secretariat’s Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs at UNHQ. Her main role includes supporting the development of innovative finance options for peacebuilding in conflict-affected settings as well as identify new policy frameworks and partnerships with a new set of actors, that will help the Secretary-General to implement his reform agenda. In the past, she has worked at the UN Capital Development Fund on their flagship women’s economic empowerment programme aimed at unlocking private capital for gender-responsive investments in East Africa and Southeast Asia. Prior to joining PBSO, Bhatia worked at UNICEF on public–private partnerships and innovation for children’s rights initiatives, including education, nutrition and social protection. She also worked in an investor outreach role during the design and launch phase at Convergence, a blended finance online platform bringing together public and private investors – including international financial institutions, foundations and private investors – for development deals in emerging and frontier markets. Prior to her experiences in development finance, Bhatia worked for over four years in private sector, in commercial lending risk management. Bhatia graduated from the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University in 2015, with an MPA focused on International Finance and Economic Policy.

Next steps and closing

Marcus_Lenzen

Marcus Lenzen

Deputy Chief of the Peacebuilding Fund, UN Peace Building Support Office (PBSO)
Speaker
Marcus Lenzen is the Deputy Chief of the Peacebuilding Fund with the UN Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO) in the Department for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs in New York, where he focuses on the Fund’s strategy and partnerships. Prior roles included Senior Conflict Adviser with the UK’s Department for International Development, where he led policy work on the Department’s ‘Building Stability Framework’ and peacebuilding programming in Nigeria. He also held positions with the UN Development Programme’s Crisis Bureau, advising country offices on conflict analysis, conflict prevention and peacebuilding programming; and served with the GIZ in Guatemala and Peru supporting national human rights actors and truth and reconciliation processes. Marcus has over 20 years of experience working at the interface of peacebuilding and development and a keen interest in transitional justice. He holds a Master’s degree in Development Management from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a Master’s degree in Political Science, Modern History and Applied Cultural Studies from the University of Muenster, Germany.
Deike Potzel

Deike Potzel

Director General of the German Federal Foreign Office for Crisis Prevention, Stabilisation, Peacebuilding and Humanitarian Assistance
Speaker
Ambassador Deike Potzel is Director General for Crisis Prevention, Stabilisation, Peace Building and Humanitarian Assistance at the Federal Foreign Office.
Previously, she served as Inspector General at the Federal Foreign Office. She was Germany’s Ambassador to Ireland, Deputy Director-General for Central Services at the Foreign Ministry and Head of the Personal Office of Federal President Joachim Gauck. She also served as Deputy Head of Division for Personell, Staff Development and Planning, Desk Officer for Iran and the Gulf Countries as well as the EU-Enlargement desk at the Foreign Ministry. She was posted to Iran and Singapore. Ambassador Potzel studied English and French Language and Literature. She is married with two grown-up children.