Humanitarian and Resilience Investing

Humanitarian and Resilience Investing (HRI) Initiative

Catalyzing private capital to strengthen the resilience of the most vulnerable communities and economies.

Launched in 2019, the HRI Initiative brings together public, private and humanitarian actors to unlock social impact investment in frontier markets - strengthening resilience and delivering measurable benefits for at-risk and crisis-hit communities. 

Key focus areas

We define frontier markets as a class of market economies that are characterized as (i) Fragile and Conflict-affected Situations (FCS) by the IFC, (ii) the frontier regions of lower to middle-income countries and International Development Association (IDA) eligible countries, (iii) or communities living in lower to middle-income and IDA eligible countries that have suffered from a crisis or are living under conditions that put them at increased risk of one.

The Need

Traditional and acute relief efforts always remain necessary in crises, but should be complemented with a market-based response that unlocks investable opportunities at scale to invest in the resilience and recovery of affected and at-risk communities. 

Why Now

Protracted crises, unprecedented climate disasters, ODA drawbacks and recent escalation of conflicts has exacerbated the urgency for more sustainable humanitarian and development responses.


The Opportunity

Stronger cross sectoral cooperation and partnerships offer potential to unlock financially sustainable business models that strengthen local economies, and increase the self-reliance and resilience of communities in frontier markets.

Our Growing Ecosystem

The initiative is engaging over 100 partners across the sectors and is providing a platform for the ecosystem to amplify their work. 

Roadmap for Africa

The traditional aid system is under growing pressure from shrinking budgets, increased scrutiny, and demands for more measurable, lasting outcomes. Fragmented, short-term interventions have exposed the limits of donor-led models, fueling calls for more efficient, locally grounded, and market-driven approaches.

In this moment of urgency and opportunity, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the World Economic Forum (WEF) present the Humanitarian and Resilience Investing (HRI) Roadmap for Africa, a collaborative strategy to unlock sustainable private sector investment in Africa’s frontier markets. An approach that aligns humanitarian and development priorities with investable opportunities, bridging the gap between capital and community needs.

Operationalizing our Call to Action

To operationalize the Call to Action, the HRI Initiative is working with its key communities on three key areas of engagement and supporting its partners to launch complementary workstreams.

Cultivating investments in purpose-driven businesses

Facilitating collaboration along the continuum of impact capital to enable the scaling of purpose-driven businesses in frontier markets.

Building and maturing selected frontier markets

Aligning interventions, leveraging the roles of stakeholder groups along the continuum to overcome transaction challenges.

Developing a new evidence-based narrative

Creating transparency around the financial and impact performance of deals in frontier markets, and the actual versus perceived risks.

Want to get involved?

Join our community of 100+ partners and help drive a specific engagement area, lead the development of a new workstream, and/or participate in events.

Humanitarian and Resilience Investing

A World Economic Forum Initiative
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