The Impact World this Week: 29 January 2026

The Afrikan Liberation Hub, an NGO which aims to promote economic system transformation and decolonial justice across Africa, held a gathering as part of Reclaim the Economy Week, which took place across the world from Monday 26 January to 1 February. 

Global: What links a nature walk in Singapore, a film night in Türkiye and chat about the wellbeing economy in a pub in Auckland? They were all part of Reclaim the Economy Week, which started on Monday 26 January. The event was organised by international charity the Wellbeing Economy Alliance and international economic systems change initiative Earth4All. The organisers invited organisations, communities and individuals to run events, campaigns and actions focused on redesigning economies to put people and planet first, under the Reclaim the Economy Week banner. A petition, launched by the organisers as part of the week, calls on leaders at all levels to think beyond GDP and commit to a global transformation that delivers rights, justice and a fulfilling life on a safe planet.

Global: Social procurement was on the menu at the UK House of Lords on Thursday, as Social Enterprise UK and Telos, which aims to make more supply chains ‘social’, hosted a dinner for senior global procurement leaders. The event followed up on the World Economic Forum’s State of Social Procurement 2026 report, published last week during its Annual Meeting in Davos. Although the report’s headline figures around the potential for FTSE 100 companies to invest more in social procurement  are almost identical to the 2025 iteration, this year’s edition highlights EU sustainability and human rights due diligence legislation as a global benchmark to drive social procurement, despite being watered down at the end of last year. Mathieu Vervynckt, of NGO Swedwatch, told Pioneers Post his organisation’s attentions were now switching to the ongoing revision of the EU Public Procurement Directive as an opportunity to introduce obligations on companies and the public sector to advance social and environmental policies through procurement.

Global: Allianz has launched a US$1bn blended finance fund to invest in climate solutions in emerging markets, 40% of which are earmarked for Africa. The Allianz Credit Emerging Markets fund has so far secured US$690m, including US$150m in concessionary capital from development finance institutions including British International Investment and multilaterals. Private investors include Allianz and Swiss pension fund GastroSocial. 

Scotland: The University of Edinburgh’s Social Investment Fund has invested £6m in social investment funds over the past eight years, including the Growth Impact Fund and the Scottish Social Growth Fund, according to its first impact report published this month. It also found 95% of students and staff support the inclusion of socially positive investment within the university’s management of its £1bn treasury funds and investments.

Global: Bridges Fund Management has raised more than £440m for its Bridges Property Alternatives Fund VI, which focuses on sustainable property investments in the UK and Europe. Bridges has raised £1.3bn across six Property Alternatives funds since 2009, which have invested in sectors including affordable housing, low carbon industrial buildings and adult social care accommodation.

Asia: AVPN has officially launched the ImpactCollab Outcomes Marketplace. The platform will match social enterprises and nonprofits with funders looking to pay for outcomes, meaning that they will provide funding based on the impact achieved by the organisation rather than the project before it starts. The first 14 impact organisations selected on the platform focused on fighting youth unemployment.  

Global: The John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation has published a report looking at the impact of, and learnings from, its investments in the Catalytic Capital Consortium’s portfolio of partnerships with impact funds around the world. It found that US$128.5m of its investments mobilised US$3.1bn of additional finance from co-investors. One of the takeaways was that prioritising local managers in emerging markets funds was successful  in driving impact.

Josh Babarinde, founder and former CEO of Cracked It, a social enterprise smartphone repair service staffed by young ex-offenders, and now Liberal Democrat MP for Eastbourne, has been named New MP of the Year outside of the two largest parties by the Patchwork Foundation, UK-based charity committed to strengthening democracy. The Patchwork Foundation's MP of the Year Awards celebrate the work of MPs from across the country who actively work with underrepresented and disadvantaged communities across the UK.

Movers and Shakers

• Sazini Mojapelo is the new CEO of African NGO Village Enterprise, which tackles extreme poverty through entrepreneurship. Mojapelo will be based in Nairobi, Kenya, making her the charity’s first African-based CEO.

In case you missed it

Social enterprise Good Place Lettings scored a prime-time British TV slot on 20 January as part of a report on the BBC’s The One Show, highlighting innovative ways to tackle homelessness. The lettings agency is a joint venture between Scotland’s award-winning Homes for Good and homelessness charity Crisis. Tenant Dave Auguste told viewers how Good Place Lettings found him an affordable home when he was on the cusp of becoming homeless. UK viewers can watch the programme here. 

• Read more: Homes for Good builds on Scotland success with London launch of social enterprise lettings agency