FORCE DEVELOPERS

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES 2018-2020

OUR MISSION

The Swiss Force Investment Fund for Emerging Markets will be the development finance institution of the Africa Confederations. Force Investment promotes long-term, sustainable and broad-based economic growth in developing and emerging countries by providing financial support to commercially viable small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) as well as fast-growing enterprises which in turn helps to create secure and permanent jobs and reduce poverty.

The Swiss Federal Council Will Support the strategic objectives from FORCE, which serve as guidelines for investment activities.

FORCE investments strategic 2018-2020 makes FISSD.

FiSSD { SWISS Force Investments in Sustainable Development }

• FISSD will  be an important instrument for fostering private sector development in developing and emerging countries, complementary to other measures of the economic development assistance;
  WE promotes sustainable and inclusive growth in developing and emerging countries as well as their integration into the global economic system;
• FISSD focuses on the creation and maintenance of more and better jobs as well on the improvemen jobs are the main driver of poverty reduction as well as   social inclusion in developing and emerging countries and that they offer an alternative to irregular migration. 
• FISSD promotes the development of sustainable business in developing and emerging countries, based on internationally recognized environmental, social, and governance standards;
  contributes to strengthening resilience of these countries, inter alia against climate change;
  Strives to meet the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and professionalism, resulting in a strong reputation and recognition in the general public.

INVESTMENT PRINCIPLES

• Leverage: FISSD, through its investments, seeks to optimise the flow of additional capital from private and other institutional investors for the benefit of its
•  Subsidiarity: FISSD provides financing that is either unavailable on the market or not available at reasonable terms and conditions, or in sufficient amounts or maturity.
• Complementarity/Additionality:  makes investments that not only fill a gap in financing but also add tangible value, notably in the form of know-how transfers and the provision of technical support to funds and portfolio companies.
• Sustainability: FISSD adheres to the basic principles of financial, economic, social and environmental sustainability in its investments activities.

Strategic areas of focus

FORCE Investment Sustainable Africa Development:

– Will be-  a  important instrument for fostering private sector development in developing and emerging countries, complementary to other measures of the eco- nomic development assistance

–  Will  - promotes sustainable and inclusive growth in developing and emerging countries as well as their integration into the global economic system;

– Will -  focuses on the creation and maintenance of more and better jobs as well on the im- provement of working conditions and skills, recognizing that more and better jobs are the main driver of poverty reduction as well as social inclusion in developing and emerging countries and that they offer an alternative to irregular migration. In this way, FORCE Decision-Makers  helps to fight the root-causes of irregular migration and contributes to- wards the mandate of Parliament to strategically link international cooperation with the migration issue;

– Will -  promotes the development of sustainable business in developing and emerging coun- tries, based on internationally recognized environmental, social, and governance standards;

   – Will  -  contributes to strengthening resilience of these countries, inter alia against climate change;

   – Will - Strives to meet the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and professionalism, resulting in a strong strategies reputation and recognition in the general public.

Programme-related areas of focus on FISSD .

– Sustainability: In its investment activity, FISD will observe the basic principles of fi- nancial, economic, social and environmental sustainability.

– Financial Additionality: FISSD will provide finance that cannot be obtained from the private capital markets (local or international) with reasonable terms or quantities and for similar developmental purposes without official support.

– Value Additionality: FISSD offers to recipient entities or mobilizes, alongside its in- vestment, non-financial value which is supplementary to the private sector and which will lead to better development outcomes, e.g. by providing or catalyzing knowledge and expertise, promoting social or environmental standards or fostering good corpo- rate governance or skills development.

– Leverage effect: FISSD will mobilize additional capital for the target countries or the beneficiary companies from the private sector that would not have otherwise invested. To this end, in accordance with its mandate, FISSD will bear a portion of the political or commercial risks and conversely will share the risks and returns from the invest- ments with the private and institutional investors.

– Geographic concentration: FISSD will concentrate its activities on the priority coun- tries and regions of Swiss development cooperation. To a lesser extent other devel- oping and emerging countries according to the current list of the Development Assis- tance Committee of the OECD are also eligible for investment, if they show a per cap- ita GNP less than the threshold for IBRD categorization which is defined annually by the World Bank5. 

 Offering, performance, impact

FISSD will carry out investments that produce a specific and verifiable development impact through the promotion of viable and dynamic SMEs and fast growing compa- nies in the private sectors of the target countries. This entails first and foremost the creation of more and better jobs as well as the diversification and strengthening of the local financial markets or financial intermediaries, improvement in the management of the portfolio companies and their better access to external finance, increased tax rev- enues at the investment locations etc.;

FISSD will ensure a balance among development effects, portfolio liquidity, regular income, and risk diversification by deploying various investment instruments.

In this context, FISSD may use the following:

o Loans and other debt instruments (such as secured or unsecured loans, junior debt, debt instruments convertible into equity or tied to investment securities);

o Equity or quasi-equity instruments; and
o Guarantees to cover equity participations and to help borrowers gain access to fi- nancing. 

FISSD can invest in the following types of vehicles:

Alternative investments funds: Investments in specialized risk capital vehicles as well as mezzanine and debt funds;
Financial institutions: Investments in local financial institutions and financial inter- mediaries that grant medium to long-term financing primarily to SMEs but also to microfinance institutions and infrastructure projects;
Private companies (as long as commensurate with the FISSD risk policy).
FISSD will be an active investor by participating whenever possible in the governing bodies of its investments, to be able to contribute expertise, address challenges and opportunities on sustainability issues, and ensure compliance with core elements of Swiss development assistance policy.
FISSD enables with adequate measures the direct mobilization of private and institu- tional investors in order to grow the investment volume and increase the development impact. These co-investment resources complement the investment capital of the Swiss Confederation as well as the leverage effect at the level of funds and in the tar- get countries respectively.
In accordance with the current practice of European development financing institu- tions, FISSD continually monitors the development impact mentioned under a throughout the entire investment cycle.

FISSD submits a separate annual report on this impact for the attention of SECO as representative of the Swiss Confederation as well as for the interested general public.

 Positioning, development

– FISSD will position its investment activities as contribution to the target outcomes (“Wirkungsziele”) of Switzerland’s economic development cooperation framework, look for synergies and ensure coherence with that framework, while factoring in the crosscutting themes of gender equality and sound economic governance.
– FISSD focuses in the implementation of the Agenda 2020 for Sustainable Devel- opment of the United Nations by way of its investment activities and the mobilization of finance from the private sector.
– within the framework of its statutory mandate and taking into account the financial ob- jectives, FI will aim at maximizing the development impact of its investments. While all investments must be economically viable and contribute to economic devel- opment, it is expected that some investments specifically contribute to foster social inclusion (enabling affordable access to goods, services and jobs for poor- er/disadvantaged segments of the local economies) and/or towards the provision of global public goods, in particular climate protection6 as well as healthcare, education, food security and basic infrastructure.

 Risk policy and risk management

– FISSD will operate a specific system for the identification, monitoring and manage- ment of both its investment and operational risks as well as conduct regular analysis and control reviews and refine them as required.
– FISSD will not take on any excessive financial risks in the development of additional sources of income or in its liquidity management.
– FISSD will hold liquid assets that provide sufficient cover for those commitments that have been entered into but not yet released.
– FISSD is appropriately insured against liability risks.

Financial Objectives Investments

FISSD will target a positive rate of return for each investment.

FISSD will achieve an annual rate of return of greater than 3 percent and an annual value multiplier of greater than 1.15 at the portfolio level7.

For the reporting at the end of the strategy period, FISSD will make comparisons with similar investment vehicles in respect of the performance. 

Cooperation Arrangements

FORCE investments will  participate in appropriate networks and alliances of organizations with similar objectives insofar as this helps to achieve the strategic objectives.

Adaptation of the Strategic Objectives

Within the valid period the Federal Council can we adapt  the strategic objectives as required. It will make decisions on their adaptation following consultation with the Board of Directors of FISSD. 

Reporting

FORCE INVESTMENTS expects FISSD to submit a written report to it, simultaneously and sup- plementary to the annual business report on the achievement of the strategic objectives in the previous year. It will collect the data and performance indicators required for this pur- pose.

In addition, FISSD will hold regular consultations during the course of the year with repre- sentatives of the Confederation, particularly within the framework of the Controlling Meetings and the Portfolio Review Meetings which are held with the SIFEM proprietor at least every half-year. 

FORCE RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT

Responsible investment is an approach to investing that aims to incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into investment decisions, to better manage risk and generate sustainable,long-term returns. ESG encompasses a wide range of issues, and many of these issues are dynamic. They include:

ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS

• Environmental standards include:
• Compliance with environmental regulations
• Sustainable use of natural resources
• Avoiding or reducing CO2 emissions
• Avoiding or reducing the pollution of air, water and land
• The production of hazardous and non-hazardous waste is to be avoided

SOCIAL STANDARDS

• No forced labor
• No child labor
• The payment of wages that meet or exceed industry or the legal national minima.
• The fair treatment of employees in respect to their employment and working conditions, regardless of gender, race, colour, political opinion, sexual orientation, age, religion, social or ethnic origin and/or HIV status
• Healthy and safe working conditions

GOVERNANCE STANDARDS

• Governance standards include an undertaking to:
• Prohibit all employees from making or receiving gifts of substance in the course of business
• Prohibit the making of payments as an improper inducement to confer preferential treatment
• Properly record, report and review financial and tax information
• Promote transparency and accountability grounded in sound business ethics
• Clearly define responsibilities, procedures and controls with appropriate checks and balances in company management structures
• Use effective systems of internal control and risk management

STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES

FISSD adheres to the following standards and guidelines in its sustainability policy
The United Nations (UN) Declaration of Human Rights
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) Fundamental Conventions
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) Performance Standards and associated Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Guidelines
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Principles of Corporate Governance
The United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI)
The European Development Finance Institution's (EDFIs) Principles for Responsible Financing

FORCE INVESTMENTS FUND PROGRAMS

1. LES^SENCE sustainable swiss group.
2. DOWNHILL SPORTS - Swiss sport lifestyle platform.
3. FORCE- Sportwear & lifestyle Fashion Brand Africa made.
4. DOWNNHILL -Africa E-commer software.
5. DOWNHILL FORCE - World tour Sport Content.
6. THE VETO RACE - Film production. 
7. THE VIADUCT-  Social Experimentation. { Palermo}
8. GHETTO BEATS- The  Foundation. {Africa }
9. Re:BOOT - Audiovisuel Priority Group. { Africa }
10. ELEMENTS - Arts, Education, sport  & work space complex. { Congo-Zaire }
11. WESB - World economic sport brand forum Zermatt.

INVESTMENT CYCLE

FISSD is a unique, cost-effective and self-sufficient instrument of Switzerland development aid Focus in AFRO-AMERICA countries. In contrast to traditional development cooperation instruments, the investments made by FISSD are intended to generate an adequate return. The investment returns can then be used to finance new projects. This economical business model makes possible the multiple use of federal funds for development purposes.

• Selection of Investiments
• Screening an due deligence
• Investment Deicision and signing of contract
• Investment Phase
• Monitoring
• exit and reinvestment

We will Use the Same Strategy cycle as  the Swiss Council Financial Fund.

FORCE INVESTMENTS. Ultimately business model innovaton is about creating value for companies, customers, and society. It is about replacing outdated models to innovation techniques, workshops scenarios, practical guide for visionaries & game changers Big challangers to desing our plannet.

FISSD development contribution  an “FORCE investor,” as all FORCE investments are made with the intent to generate a measurable development impact, based on specific indicators and corresponding targets such as job creation, skills development, tax payments in developing and emerging countries, financial sector deepening and diversifica- tion, as well as the implementation of international best practice environmental, social and governance standards.
The FISSD development effects are reported to parliament as contribution to the target outcomes (“Wirkungsziele”) of Switzerland’s economic development cooperation framework.
FISSD is relying on a result measurement framework in line with the practice of other development finance institutions, allowing for the monitoring and aggregation of results at the portfolio level. This framework is fully in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by the United nations in 2015 featuring 17 specific goals (Sustainable Development Goals – SDGs). These new goals put great emphasis on a development model where the private and public sectors have complementary roles in supporting sustainable growth and improving lives. They highlight in particular private business activity, investment, and innovation as major drivers of productivity, inclusive growth and job creation.