Streamlining ESG & Impact for Pan-African asset manager with $3.1 billion in assets under management

In their 2023 impact report, DPI outlined a clear vision: To align with global best practices, streamline reporting across their portfolio, and increase impact transparency and depth through more consistent stakeholder engagement and outcome-level data collection.

To support this ambition, DPI partnered with leonardo. The collaboration began with a pilot study for one portfolio company and quickly scaled into a portfolio-wide rollout of leonardo’s integrated Impact Management Platform (IMP) — transforming how DPI measures, manages, and communicates its impact.

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"Working with leonardo revealed the next level of impact insights through gaining access to data from stakeholders and understanding the depth of the Impact our portfolio company was having. In the process we have also identified the potential for automating tedious ESG data collection and reporting tasks. Using technology for this combination of regular ESG reporting as well as analysing impact depth is unique and much needed."

Vincent Lecat, Head of Impact and ESG at DPI
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The customer: Development Partners International (DPI)

Founded in 2007, Development Partners International (DPI) is a Pan-African asset manager with $3.1 billion in assets under management across three funds. With a track record of investing in 31 companies spanning 43 countries and 17 industries, DPI focuses on high-growth businesses that have the potential to deliver transformational economic and social value.

DPI has become known not only for its strong investment performance, but for its deep commitment to gender equity, sustainability, and inclusive growth. The firm is co-founded and led by a woman, one-third of its partners, 54% of its staff and 47% of its investment professionals are women - a rare achievement in the private equity landscape.

DPI targets innovation-led companies in sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, finance, and digital technology -  sectors where Africa’s future is being built. Their investment philosophy combines capital with active support: they work hand-in-hand with management teams to scale sustainable business models that can shape Africa’s development for the long term.
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The challenge: Managing ESG & Impact data across a complex portfolio

As an asset manager with a diverse, fast-growing portfolio, DPI faced the increasing complexity of collecting, validating, and communicating high-quality ESG and impact data. While company-level reporting was already in place, DPI sought to raise the bar by aligning with best practices — incorporating outcome-level data from stakeholders, harmonising indicators across investments, and responding to evolving LP requirements.

The challenge wasn’t a lack of commitment, but rather the need for a more integrated, automated, and scalable approach. Without innovative technology, data collection, analysis, and reporting would continue to consume a significant portion of the year.

To meet this ambition, DPI needed a digital infrastructure that could bring fragmented ESG and impact efforts into one system — enabling better insights, reducing the reporting burden, and building trust with stakeholders. DPI needed a system that was fully customisable, capable of mirroring their unique frameworks and indicators — and a partner who could support them closely throughout the whole IMM process.

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The solution: From fragmented reporting to unified, smart impact intelligence

‍To tackle this challenge, DPI partnered with leonardo to implement a two-phase solution:
‍An initial pilot impact study with portfolio company Solevo, followed by a broader rollout of leonardo’s Impact Management Platform (IMP) across ADP III - one of the largest Africa-focused funds, managing $1.15 billion in global capital and investing in 12 portfolio companies.

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Phase 1: Deep-dive impact study with Solevo

The journey began with Solevo, a leading specialty chemical distributor and, a key DPI portfolio company that distributes provides agricultural products like seeds,
fertilisers and crop protection products across Africa. Together with Solevo, leonardo conducted an in-depth stakeholder impact study in Cameroon and Ivory Coast
talking to 540 farmers.

The approach was deliberately inclusive and rigorous:

• leonardo designed a survey methodology aligned with global standards such as the Sustainable Development Goals and its proprietary 5D Impact Lens based on the 5 dimensions of impact
  
  
• Solevo staff were trained and equipped to conduct 540 face-to-face interviews with farmers on the ground
  
  
• leonardo’s platform processed, validated and analysed the data using AI-powered tools, ensuring consistency, representativity and reliability
  
  
• All data was visualised and made accessible for DPI and Solevo through a secure, interactive dashboard and an insightful pdf report
  
  

This approach yielded high-quality, stakeholder-level data in just a few weeks, a 90%+ improvement compared to traditional impact evaluation timelines. In addition ESG company data from Solevo was collected through leonardo’s IMP and brought into one coherent dashboard.
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First insights

The results from the Solevo study have already delivered valuable, tangible insights. Farmers reported significant improvements in productivity, income and resilience:

• 99% of surveyed farmers said their income increased since using Solevo’s products
  
  
• 93% experienced improved agricultural yields, with stronger outcomes in Cameroon
  
  
• 94% said their agricultural practices are now more climate-resilient, a key need in increasingly volatile weather conditions
  
  
• 57% reported improvement in quality of life, particularly in household stability and education
  
  
• Importantly, the Net Promoter Score was 59, very high compared to benchmarks — indicating strong loyalty and satisfaction
  
  

While these findings are promising, the study also highlighted environmental risks such as pesticide toxicity, increased land use and deforestation — providing Solevo and DPI with early warning signals and areas for strategic intervention. In response, the Solevo team quickly began developing solutions, which are now being rolled out. These include phasing out specific products and introducing a new product stewardship and management system.
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Phase 2: From pilot to portfolio – Operationalising impact at scale

Following the successful Solevo pilot, DPI extended its collaboration with leonardo by onboarding the whole ADP III fund onto leonardo’s Impact Management Platform (IMP). The goal: Move from isolated reporting efforts to an integrated and scalable system for ESG and impact management across the entire portfolio.

With the platform in place, DPI and its portfolio companies can:

• Standardise and harmonise over 300 ESG and impact indicators across diverse reporting frameworks
  
  
• Collect, analyse and report output-level company data alongside outcome-level stakeholder insights within a single interface
  
  
• Automate validation and aggregation using AI to reduce human error and manual work
  
  
• Empower companies with direct dashboard access, giving them visibility into their own performance
  
  
• Roll out stakeholder surveys quickly and cost-effectively to employees, customers, or suppliers
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• Coordinate LP reporting across different investor requirements from numerous European DFIs and renowned impact-oriented fund of funds

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The way forward

leonardo’s holistic, efficient and intelligent IMP enables DPI to move beyond traditional fund-level reporting by integrating ESG data collection and impact depth analysis into one seamless system — establishing a scalable infrastructure that supports both compliance and continuous learning across its portfolio. 

“We are happy that we were able to create a digital backbone that reduces reporting friction, unlocks portfolio-wide comparability, and gives companies the tools to not just report impact — but to manage it.”

Dr. Jan Moellmann, CEO of leonardo. impact

Moving forward, DPI plans to conduct similar studies across its portfolio companies and to use longitudinal tracking to monitor how impact evolves over time. The leonardo platform will serve as the central infrastructure for this effort — turning DPI into one of the most data-driven, impact-focused investors operating in Africa today.
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Get to know DPI and their portfolio companies — and support their amazing work. 

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