Programme expands current Sustainable Finance Awards
LONDON: The Financial Times and IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, today launch an awards programme to showcase business initiatives that can create long-term, transformative solutions to environmental, social, and corporate governance challenges, particularly in developing nations.
The FT/IFC Transformational Business Awards: Sustainable Solutions to Today’s Development Challenges expand the FT/IFC Sustainable Finance Awards, which established themselves over eight years as the leading global awards for environmentally and socially responsible banking and investment. The 2013 Sustainable Finance Awards attracted a record 254 entries from 221 organisations in 61 countries.
The new programme highlights innovative, commercially viable, and replicable products and services that address development needs in areas such as infrastructure, energy, food and water, education and health. It also recognises the use of technology to empower the poor and efforts to reverse environmental and social degradation.
Martin Dickson, US managing editor of the Financial Times and co-chair of the Transformational Business Awards judging panel, said: “Building on the success of the FT/IFC Sustainable Finance Awards, we’ve extended the Transformational Business Awards to cover both financial and non-financial organisations across private and public sectors. They focus on specific projects and transactions and the impact those initiatives have on the problems they are targeting.”
Nena Stoiljkovic, IFC Vice President, Business Advisory Services, and fellow judging panel co-chair, said: “We want to recognise financial institutions and companies that have developed innovative solutions that can work in many markets with a focus on long-term value creation for businesses and the communities in which they operate.”
The FT/IFC Transformational Business Awards will reward innovation, impact, replicability and commercial viability on a transactional basis across the following categories:
- Achievement in Project Finance
Infrastructure
Energy
Food/Water
Education
Health
- Achievement in Information and Communications Technology
- Achievement in Transformational Finance
- Achievement in Inclusive Business
Special attention will be given to public-private partnerships.
Entries are being accepted until March 14, 2014. Entry forms and criteria will be available at www.ft-live.com/transformationalbusiness.
The winners in each category will be announced at a special dinner at the InterContinental London Park Lane on 12 June 2014.
The dinner will conclude the inaugural FT/IFC Transformational Business Conference, a one-day summit that will gather policy-makers, business leaders and strategists from around the world to discuss new ways of tackling key challenges facing emerging economies and societies.
In conjunction with the awards, IFC will be hosting a series of Transformational Business Days in cities around the world from December 2013 to February 2014 to provide more information about the new awards programme and to promote best practice in transformational business and finance.
PwC is technical advisor for the awards.
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For further information, please contact
Kristina Eriksson
Financial Times
T: +44 (0) 20 7873 4961
E: Kristina.Eriksson@ft.com
Julie Ziegler, IFC
Washington DC
T: +1 (202) 473 0128
E: JZiegler1@ifc.org
About the Financial Times
The Financial Times, one of the world’s leading business news organisations, is recognised internationally for its authority, integrity and accuracy. Providing essential news, comment, data and analysis for the global business community, the FT has a combined paid print and digital circulation of almost 629,000 (Deloitte assured, Q3 2013). Mobile is an increasingly important channel for the FT, driving more than 40% of total traffic and a quarter of digital subscriptions. FT education products now serve 34 of the world’s top 50 business schools.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. Working with private enterprises in more than 100 countries, we use our capital, expertise, and influence to help eliminate extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity. In FY13, our investments climbed to an all-time high of nearly $25 billion, leveraging the power of the private sector to create jobs and tackle the world’s most pressing development challenges. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.