The British Asian Trust has launched a £10m scheme to provide skills and training in India, working with other charities and the British government.
The Skill Impact Bond aims to help 50,000 people, the majority of them young women. India is trying to recover from the economic impact of Covid-19, which has left millions of people unemployed.
When impact bonds are launched, private investors provide upfront capital and are paid back by other funders when the scheme hits particular outcomes. In this case, payments will depend on the number of people finding and retaining jobs for at least three months.
The British Asian Trust is the transaction manager for this bond and has led on its design and structure.
Partnership
The bond will be worth $14.4m, according to a statement, or just under £10.5m.
The initial investment of $4m comes from India’s National Development Corporation and the US-based Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. They will provide upfront working capital for training companies.
Outcome funding will then be provided by the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, a charity registered in the US and UK with offices in India, along with the HSBC bank, the Indian not-for-profit organisation JSW Foundation, and Dubai Cares, which is based in the United Arab Emirates.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and United States Agency for International Development are both technical advisors.
Development goals
Richard Hawkes, the chief executive of the British Asian Trust, said: “This impressive coalition of public and private sector partners promotes collaboration on a shared development goal to support youth in their transition to employment.
“The Skill Impact Bond is a mindset shift and seeks to harness the power of its broad coalition to convince Indian state governments of the merits of outcome-based, gender-appropriate interventions, and increase their roll-out across India, potentially changing the skilling landscape.”
The success of a previous bond scheme overseen by the British Asian Trust, the Development Impact Bond, will be evaluated next year.
Related news
