Topic Guide: Meeting the challenge: How can enterprise challenge funds be made to work better

This guide focuses on the type of funds which have private sector grantees that are intended to create jobs and incomes

From:
Department for International Development
Published
1 January 2014
Document Type:
Thematic Summary
Theme:
Economic Growth
Authors:
Mitchell, J., Brain, A., Gulrajani, N.

Abstract

Enterprise challenge funds are widely used in the development landscape, in the past 15 years alone a number of donors have spent approximately £850m on this aid modality. A large proportion of this spend has been disbursed through challenge funds in social sectors (such as the massive £355 million Girls Education Challenge) - but our focus here is the type of funds which have private sector grantees that are intended to create jobs and incomes.

This topic guide seeks to explain:

  • the evolution of challenge funds;
  • the conceptual rationale for their use;
  • their use in practice;
  • findings on the effectiveness of challenge funds; and
  • how the lessons learned should inform future challenge funds

This report concludes that the monitoring and evaluation material generated by challenge funds has been extensive - but not entirely helpful.

Citation

Brain, A.; Gulrajani, N.; Mitchell, J. Topic Guide: Meeting the challenge: How can enterprise challenge funds be made to work better. EPS PEAKS, UK (2014) 34 pp.

Published 1 January 2014
Contents