Market Study & Investor Guidelines on Responsible Investment in Tech for DEG Group

Technology is increasingly a driver of socioeconomic development. Investors such as DEG and AfricaGrow have increasingly focused on this sector to fund impactful and scalable companies. However, there is uncertainty on how to understand and manage technology-linked ESG risks in a way that is commensurate with the maturity and exposure of early-stage technology companies. Existing industry efforts are not consolidated.

We thus worked with DEG and DEG Impact via AfricaGrow to better understand Responsible Investment in Technology, to contribute to the ecosystem and to help ramp up best practices in the space.

The first phase of the project involved conducting a Market Study on the impact and risk of technology investments. The study identified drivers of ESG risk, and consolidated country and industry efforts to manage technology risk. The study concluded that there was a need for practical investment guidelines on the topic.

The second phase of the project developed Investor Guidelines for ESG Risk Management. The guidelines help responsible investors to develop an ESG risk management framework, and to conduct ESG due diligences on technology-focused companies.

Find the Market Study here, and the Investor Guidelines here.