Enlightening Insight: Boosting Success for Female Youth in Africa

Enlightening Insight: Boosting Success for Female Youth in Africa

Tiko's Development Impact Bond Addresses Triple Threat in Sub-Saharan Africa

Tiko, an African non-profit organization, is making strides in addressing the major issue of teen pregnancy, HIV, and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in sub-Saharan Africa. The organization's work, particularly through a Development Impact Bond (DIB) launched in 2023, is demonstrating the potential of impact-linked financing to empower adolescent girls.

Based in Kenya, Tiko uses DIBs to finance programs that deliver quality-assured sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services at no cost to girls. The 2023 DIB in Kenya targets 10 counties, combining HIV services, family planning, mental health support, and prevention of SGBV within an ecosystem approach that engages community mobilisers and local health facilities.

One of the key ways Tiko’s DIB supports addressing the triple threat is by linking payments to impact metrics. The DIB's success is measured through specific performance indicators such as family planning uptake, HIV service delivery, poverty reduction, and repeat family planning usage. In 2024, Tiko’s DIB exceeded four out of five payment metrics, indicating improved service delivery and impact.

The DIB also funds local partner health facilities to become more accessible and welcoming to young people. This is achieved by providing internet access, youth-friendly rooms, and staff training, encouraging adolescent girls to seek care for HIV, contraception, and SGBV support.

Another significant aspect is the integration of services. This DIB enables the integration of HIV treatment continuation and adherence support with family planning and antenatal care, addressing multiple health risks simultaneously, essential for reducing teen pregnancy and HIV transmission rates in vulnerable communities.

Tiko's work also emphasizes community engagement. Through its ecosystem approach, community mobilisers from the same environments as beneficiaries encourage girls to access services, overcoming social barriers related to stigma and gender-based violence.

By 2024, Tiko helped deliver over 723,000 family planning and 257,000 HIV services in Kenya alone, demonstrating the scale possible through impact-linked financing.

Serah Melaba, Tiko's chief impact officer, describes the drop in aid as a "structural rupture" and states that it impacts the girls Tiko serves, the communities, and the broader health system. However, she remains hopeful that Tiko can take advantage of this moment for a reset in terms of understanding where the development architecture is going and is speaking with governments about the opportunities for blended financing and outcomes-based contracts to crowd in private investment and move away from traditional development finance.

Investing in girls, according to Melaba, is seen as the smartest investment, as it increases household income and builds healthy and economically resilient communities. Tiko aims to increase its reach from one million girls with its services last year to four million per year in the next five years.

The US has withdrawn $377 million in funding to the UNFPA and made wider cuts to aid for sexual and reproductive health (SRH) globally. However, Tiko continues its work, receiving catalytic capital from the Elton John AIDS Foundation to start incorporating HIV interventions into its family planning services.

Tiko operates in Kenya, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia through an online platform. The organization is currently fundraising for the next phase of the DIB in Kenya and hopes to scale the Kenya blueprint to other markets, including South Africa where work has begun on a girls outcomes fund.

Data shows that sexual and gender-based violence is a key driver in teen pregnancy and new HIV infections among young women in Africa, according to the UNFPA. Investing in family planning yields more than $8 in returns for families and societies, according to the UNFPA.

In conclusion, Development Impact Bonds under Tiko’s management create a results-based funding structure that enhances service provision, incentivizes innovations for youth engagement, and integrates critical health interventions to tackle the complex intertwined challenges of teen pregnancy, HIV, and SGBV in Kenya and broader sub-Saharan Africa. This financing model not only drives improved health outcomes but also helps sustain and expand impactful programs by tying investor returns to verified social progress.

1. Tiko's Development Impact Bond (DIB) showcases the potential of blended finance in empowering adolescent girls.
2. The DIB delivers quality-assured sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services at no cost to girls.
3. The 2023 DIB in Kenya targets 10 counties, aiming to improve family planning uptake and HIV service delivery.
4. Mental health support and SGBV prevention are integral parts of Tiko's DIB ecosystem approach.
5. Community mobilizers, local health facilities, and internet access are key factors in making health services more accessible and youth-friendly.
6. Integrating HIV treatment, family planning, and antenatal care reduces multiple health risks and lowers teen pregnancy and HIV transmission rates.
7. Tiko’s DIB measures success through specific performance indicators, such as poverty reduction and repeat family planning usage.
8. In 2024, Tiko’s DIB exceeded four out of five payment metrics, demonstrating improved service delivery and impact.
9. Tiko hopes to take advantage of the drop in aid to reset the development architecture and advocate for blended financing and outcomes-based contracts.
10. Investing in girls is considered a smart investment, as it increases household income and shapes healthy, economically resilient communities.
11. Tiko aims to increase its reach from one million girls with its services last year to four million per year in the next five years.
12. The US has withdrawn funding for the UNFPA and cut aid for sexual and reproductive health globally, but Tiko continues its work.
13. Tiko receives catalytic capital from the Elton John AIDS Foundation to incorporate HIV interventions into its family planning services.
14. Tiko operates in various African countries, including Kenya, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia, through an online platform.
15. Tiko is currently fundraising for the next phase of the DIB in Kenya and hopes to scale the Kenya blueprint to other markets.
16. Data indicates that SGBV drives teen pregnancy and new HIV infections among young women in Africa, according to the UNFPA.
17. Investing in family planning yields a financial return of more than $8 for families and societies, as per the UNFPA.
18. Development Impact Bonds under Tiko’s management incentivize innovations for youth engagement and integrate critical health interventions.
19. This financing model ties investor returns to verified social progress, helping sustain and expand impactful programs.
20. Development Impact Bonds drive improved health outcomes and address the complex, intertwined challenges of teen pregnancy, HIV, and SGBV.
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