IFFIm raises more than US$ 2 billion to support life-saving immunisation programmes in poorest countries
IFFIm raises more than US$ 2 billion to support life-saving immunisation programmes in poorest countries
19 May 2009
The International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm) satisfies strong demand for ethical investments and helps ensure children are vaccinated.
The International Finance Facility for Immunisation satisfies strong demand for ethical investments and helps ensure children are vaccinated
Press Releases
Geneva, 19 May 2009 - The International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm) has raised more than US$ 2 billion dollars on the international capital markets so far to support life-saving immunisation programmes through the GAVI Alliance.
"IFFIm harnesses the strength of the public and private sectors for development and we are seeing strong demand for ethical investments such as IFFIm Vaccine Bonds, said Alan Gillespie, Chairman, IFFIm Board
Strong demand
IFFIm board chairman Alan Gillespie told participants at a meeting on innovative financing in Geneva on Tuesday that there is a strong demand among individual and institutional investors for ethical investments.
"IFFIm harnesses the strength of the public and private sectors for development and we are seeing strong demand for ethical investments such as IFFIm Vaccine Bonds," Gillespie said. "This is just the beginning and we believe we can raise another US$ 2 billion. The demand is there."
IFFIm was launched in 2006 to rapidly accelerate the availability and predictability of funds for immunisation. The funds raised are used by the GAVI Alliance, a public-private partnership which aims to reduce the number of vaccine-preventable deaths and illness among children under five. GAVI provides funds to purchase and deliver vaccines and strengthen health services in more than 70 developing countries.
IFFIm is backed by the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Norway and South Africa which have pledged to contribute US$ 5.3 billion to IFFIm over 20 years. IFFIm converts these long-term government pledges into immediately available cash by issuing bonds on the capital markets.
An attractive and ethical investment opportunity
This strong financial base enables IFFIm to have a triple-A rating from the three major rating agencies making it an attractive and ethical investment opportunity to both individual and institutional investors alike. The World Bank acts as financial adviser and Treasury Manager to IFFIm.
"The funds raised by IFFIm help GAVI reach more children with life-saving vaccines and help us make long-term commitments to developing countries," said Dr Julian Lob-Levyt, GAVI Alliance CEO. "IFFIm is a major funding source for our programmes, but we will still need an additional US$ 400 million per year in order to reach our goals by 2015."
IFFIm's initial benchmark offering in November 2006 raised US$1 billion among institutional investors globally and a second offering in March 2008 raised the equivalent of US$ 223 million from private investors in Japan. In the first five months of 2009, IFFIm has raised an additional US$ 829 million in Japan and the UK from both private and institutional investors.
About IFFIm
International Finance Facility for Immunisation Company (IFFIm) is a multilateral development institution created to accelerate the availability of predictable, long-term funds for health and immunisation programmes through the GAVI Alliance (formerly the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation) in 70 of the poorest countries around the world.
IFFIm was created as a development financing tool to help the international community achieve the Millennium Development Goals. IFFIm's financial base consists of legally binding grants payments from its sovereign sponsors (France, Italy, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Sweden and the UK), on the basis of which IFFIm's is rated AAA/Aaa/AAA (Fitch/Moody's/S&P). The World Bank is the Treasury Manager for IFFIm. IFFIm was established as a charity with the Charity Commission for England and Wales and is registered in England and Wales as a company limited by guarantee with number 5857343 and as a charity with number 1115413.
About the GAVI Alliance
The GAVI Alliance is a public-private partnership that aims to immunise children and strengthen health systems in the world's poorest countries. It brings together developing country and donor governments, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank, the vaccine industry in both industrialised and developing countries, research and technical agencies, NGOs, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and private philanthropists. GAVI provides vaccines against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis combined with haemophilus influenzae type b and hepatitis B as so-called pentavalent (five antigens in one vaccine) as well as vaccines against measles, yellow fever, pneumococcal diseases (pneumonia and meningitis) and rotavirus (diarrhoea).
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