Winners and Special Commendations
Sustainable Bank of the Year – Africa/Middle East
Winner:
Standard
Standard Bank embeds sustainability
thinking into its everyday business, including reducing its environmental
footprint and promoting staff diversity – almost half its managers are women
and 37% of senior managers are black. Suppliers must meet sustainability
criteria in procurement policies, while corporate customers are offered
customised loans to reduce carbon emissions. Through its Africa-wide
agricultural lending, it also helps small-scale farmers increase their
capacity.
Special Commendation
for Leadership in the
Bank of
Social and environmental responsibility has been integral to Bank of Palestine since its foundation in 1960. It focuses on micro, small and medium-sized businesses, young people,gender inclusion, and finance for investments in green energy and wastewater treatment. It has a target of reaching 50% women staff by 2020 – the ratio was 24% in 2012, which was up from 17% in 2007.
Sustainable Bank of the Year –
Winner:
Banco
Santander Brasil has three sustainability themes: social and financial inclusion; education programmes; and support for social and environmental business projects. The leading Brazilian private sector bank in microfinance, it lent over $120m in 2012 to 118,000 clients – mostly women. It awarded almost 18,000 scholarships to students at 435 universities and colleges. And it lent $1.1bn for social and environmental projects.
Sustainable Bank of the Year --
Winner:
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation,
SMBC’s sustainability strategy has
four main objectives: loans to develop eco-friendly products in the
Asia-Pacific region; support for innovation in sustainability; enhancing the
role of women in SMBC; and promotion of new green businesses. In 2012, it was
involved in renewable energy deals for wind farms in
Sustainable Bank of the Year –
Winner:
GLS
GLS Bank describes itself as the world’s first social and ecological universal bank. It offers a full range of sustainable products from current accounts through finance and investments to endowments and charities. Its balance sheet has been growing by 20-33% a year, and it now has 143,000 customers. It says profit is the result of its strategy, not the aim.
Special
Commendation for Leadership in
Center-Invest Bank,
Center-Invest has worked with
international financial institutions to introduce best practice in sustainable finance to southern
Sustainable Global Bank of the Year (transactional):
Winner:
Banco
Sustainable Investor of the Year
Winner:
Impax Asset Management,
Impax funds invest in innovative companies in energy efficiency, alternative energy, resource recovery, clean water, food and agriculture. Over 15 years, assets under management have grown from $25m to $2.1bn. These funds have been invested in companies that have a multiplier effect by changing the business environment more widely. Its recognised expertise attracts segregated mandates from pension funds and other institutional investors.
Special Commendation:
LeapFrog Investments,
LeapFrog invests in financial
services companies serving the next billion emerging consumers. Its portfolio
doubled in size last year to reach 21.9 million people with insurance and
savings products that help them take calculated risks to emerge from poverty.
Revenue has grown 20% on average in its portfolio companies.
Achievement in Impact Investing (supported by DFID)
Winner:
Root Capital,
Root Capital is a non-profit social investment fund that lends capital to “the missing middle” of developing world finance – agricultural businesses too big for microfinance. It also promotes climate-smart practices, provides financial training and strengthens market connections for small farmers. It aims to fully cover its expenses from its portfolio yield by 2016 and to crowd in funding from commercial financial institutions.
Sustainable Investment of the Year
Winner:
WHEB Partners & Resysta International,
WHEB Partners financed a buyout of
Resysta, which makes a substitute for tropical hardwood from rice husks, and
restructured the company to drive international expansion. Rice husks are one
of the world’s most common food by-products, normally sent to landfill or burnt
with severe environmental and health consequences. Resysta’s sales have risen
five-fold, reducing demand for hardwoods from natural forests.
Technology in Sustainable Finance
Winner:
M-KOPA,
Using the wireless telephone network
that hosts
Special Commendation:
Etisalat, UAE
Etisalat launched a fully interoperable, open-loop mobile commerce platform known as “Flous” across its African, Middle Eastern and Asian operations in 2012. Targeting unbanked, underbanked and fully banked customers, its uses include utility and merchant payments, salary payments, domestic and international money transfers, ticket purchases and government benefit payments. It can also be used for education, health and identity purposes.
Achievement in Inclusive Business
Joint Winners:
Kenya Tea Development Agency
The KTDA works with 562,000
smallholder tea farmers in
Universitaria
Uniminuto is a private institution
in
Excellence in Sustainable Finance
M-KOPA,
Using the wireless telephone network
that hosts
