;)
Social enterprise news roundup – October 2026
Welcome to the monthly SEWF social enterprise news roundup. In this edition, governments advance new legal frameworks and social economy strategies, investors and funders test new ways of channelling capital and researchers take stock of the sector’s scale and risks, while some long-standing networks change shape. Read on for the latest from around the globe.
Global
Social Enterprise World Forum publishes the Social Investment Manifesto
Source: Social Enterprise World Forum
The Social Enterprise World Forum (SEWF) launched its Social Investment Manifesto on 23 September 2026. It calls for changes to how social enterprises are financed worldwide. Developed through a global consultation, the Manifesto argues that these organisations are held back less by a shortage of money than by financial systems that are not designed for businesses combining earned income with social and environmental goals. It sets out seven recommendations for investors, funders, governments, intermediaries and social enterprises, including blended finance, policy measures such as procurement rules, tax policy and public guarantees and closer coordination across the sector.
Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs to close in November 2026
Source: ANDE
The Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE), established in 2009 to strengthen support for smaller enterprises in the Global South, will cease operations by November 2026. The announcement attributes the decision to steep cuts in international development funding over the past year and to the growing maturity of locally led entrepreneurial support systems, which grew alongside ANDE from 34 founding organisations to more than 300 members. During the closure process, the Aspen Institute plans to assist departing staff, connect members with other Aspen programmes and arrange for ANDE’s research to remain accessible.
Schwab Foundation announces 21 finalists for 2027 Social Innovation Awards
Source: World Economic Forum
The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, which operates alongside the World Economic Forum, has selected 21 organisations from 17 countries as finalists for its 2027 awards, chosen from several hundred nominations. The finalists include social entrepreneurs, leaders within companies and coalitions working on issues such as youth employment, eye health, housing, regenerative agriculture, forest conservation and food waste. Award recipients will be announced before the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2027 in Davos, while winners in a fourth category, public sector innovators, will be named at the meeting itself.
Africa
Senegal convenes stakeholders to review national social and solidarity economy strategy
Source: Le Soleil
On 15 September 2026, Senegal’s Social and Solidarity Economy Consultation Framework (CCESS) held its first meeting of the year, under the Ministry of Microfinance and Social and Solidarity Economy. Participants met to consider validating two policy documents. The first is a national strategy for developing the social and solidarity economy. The second is a national strategy for promoting corporate social responsibility, which aims to involve businesses more in the country’s social, economic and environmental issues.
Morocco opens draft social and solidarity economy law to public comment
Source: L’ODJ Média
Morocco’s department for crafts and the social and solidarity economy has published draft framework law 017-26 for public comment on the website of the General Secretariat of the Government. The proposal would place cooperatives, associations, mutuals and non-governmental organisations under one legal structure. It would create a national register, labelling and accreditation, a national commission, regional hubs, tax incentives, financing tools and support with management, marketing and access to public contracts. It would also turn the Office for the Development of Cooperation into a national agency for the sector and set up an observatory to collect sector data, though the text must still pass through the legislative process before any of its provisions take effect.
Asia
South Korea enacts law uniting co-operatives and social enterprises under one national structure
Source: Co-operative News
South Korea’s National Assembly approved the Framework Act on the Social and Solidarity Economy on 20 August. The law brings co-operatives, social enterprises, village enterprises and similar organisations, which until now were overseen by separate ministries and laws, under one coordinating structure. First proposed in 2014, it creates a development committee attached to the Office of the President, requires a five-year national plan and sets out the country’s first legal basis for financing these organisations through investment, loans and guarantees. The act will take effect six months after it is formally promulgated and details such as funding levels and public procurement measures will be set out in later regulations.
Thai committee outlines 2027 priorities for social enterprise office
Source: Post Today
Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Supajee Suthamphan chaired the Social Enterprise Promotion Committee’s first meeting of 2026, where members reviewed the Social Enterprise Promotion Office’s operating plan for fiscal year 2027. The plan, part of the national action plan covering 2023 to 2027, aims to increase the number of social enterprises, widen their access to government incentives and help them compete in domestic and overseas markets. The committee also considered forming a subcommittee to oversee the office and assess the performance of its director.
ASEAN: OECD policy paper mapping the region’s social enterprises launched at Ninth Inclusive Business Forum in Manila
Source: UN ESCAP
The OECD formally launched a new policy paper, From Margins to Markets: Powering ASEAN’s Economy Through Inclusive Business, at the Ninth ASEAN Inclusive Business Forum on 22 September in Pasay City, Metro Manila. The paper was prepared with ASEAN. It maps inclusive businesses, meaning firms that build low-income people into their supply chains, along with social enterprises across the region, where it counts close to one million social enterprises. It also reviews the legal, accreditation and support systems available to both. Nearly 300 delegates from government, business and civil society attended the forum, which also looked back at progress since inclusive business first entered the regional agenda in Manila in 2017.
Indian listed companies increase social responsibility spending in fiscal 2025
Source: The CSR Universe
According to the CSR Yearbook 2026, listed companies in India spent ₹22,563 crore on corporate social responsibility in fiscal 2025, compared with ₹19,208 crore the year before. The number of companies reporting such expenditure grew by 20% to 2,013 and education and skill development remained the largest single category, receiving about 41% of total funds. Environmental funding grew almost fourfold, while districts officially designated as aspirational received around 10% of overall spending.
Japanese impact finance holdings reach ¥27.4 trillion, progress report shows
Source: Sustainable Japan
A progress report published on 28 August by Japan’s Impact-Oriented Finance Declaration shows that impact finance held by its signatories rose to ¥27.4 trillion, up from ¥17.0 trillion in September 2024. The initiative now has 68 participating financial institutions, including venture capital and private equity funds, banks, insurers, asset managers and securities firms. Loans made up around 71% of the total and the largest contributors, including Mizuho Bank, Norinchukin Bank and MUFG Bank, reported growth driven mainly by green, social and sustainability bonds and loans.
Europe
Scotland to develop new social economy strategy as part of five-year government plan
Source: Scottish Government
The Scottish Government’s programme for the 2026–2031 parliamentary term includes a commitment to create a new social economy strategy, replacing the ten-year social enterprise strategy that ends this year. The programme also allocates an initial £200,000 to Social Impact Partnerships focused on early intervention and prevention, which could grow into a £10 million fund over the term if the first projects prove successful.
Bulgarian labour minister outlines social economy plans at UN General Assembly
Source: BTA (Bulgarian News Agency)
At the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Bulgaria’s Minister of Labour and Social Policy, Nataliya Efremova, presented the country’s plans to expand its social economy, including a new Social Innovation Competence Centre intended to continue with national or local funding after European support ends. Speaking during a discussion of the UN Secretary-General’s report on the social and solidarity economy, she called for adaptable, inclusive regulation shaped jointly by governments, non-governmental organisations and social entrepreneurs, along with both financial and non-financial support for social enterprises. She noted that six support centres for social enterprises currently operate in Bulgaria and that the country has joined a Group of Friends working to raise the profile of the social economy internationally.
Northern Ireland study estimates co-operatives generate over £1.5 billion in income
Source: Department for the Economy (Northern Ireland)
A report commissioned by Northern Ireland’s Department for the Economy estimates that co-operatives in the region generate more than £1.5 billion in income and account for roughly 800,000 memberships. The study, written by Seán Byers of Trademark Belfast, finds room for the sector to grow through targeted policy, better access to finance and wider awareness of the co-operative model. In response, Economy Minister Dr Caoimhe Archibald said the Department will start developing a 10-year social economy strategy that includes co-operative development as a core component and will review the legal and regulatory framework for co-operatives.
Social Enterprise UK surveys sector on proposed changes to public procurement social value rules
Source: Civil Society
Social Enterprise UK (SEUK) has invited organisations to respond to a survey on the Cabinet Office’s proposed procurement reforms, which would end the 10% social value scoring requirement for contracts below £1m and raise it to 20% for contracts worth £5m or more. SEUK has raised concerns that the plans would restrict what counts as social value, drop supplier diversity from scoring and leave social enterprises bidding for smaller contracts to compete against larger, better-resourced bidders without credit for their social impact. Survey responses will inform a letter to Prime Minister Andy Burnham, which SEUK said would open for signatures later in September.
Jersey minister highlights lack of legal framework for social enterprises
Source: Jersey Evening Post
Jersey’s Economic Development Minister, Deputy Gerald Voisin, has said the island has no legal definition for organisations that trade commercially and use their profits for social purposes. In response to a question from St Helier Constable Inna Gardiner, he explained that such organisations currently need to register as a charity and then form a separate company, a process he described as cumbersome. He cited Beresford Street Kitchen as an example of this arrangement and said that while responsibility for a dedicated framework would sit with other ministers, he would work to advance the matter.
Latin America
Inter-American Development Bank’s innovation division commits USD 1 million to Amazon lending fund
Source: Amazonia Impact Ventures
The Inter-American Development Bank’s division for innovation and early-stage investment, IDB Lab, is placing USD 1 million in a blended debt fund run by Amazonia Impact Ventures (AIV), which will contribute a further USD 1.26 million. Over three years, the partners plan to issue 24 loans, with terms tied to social and environmental results, to cooperatives, small firms and enterprises led by Indigenous and local communities in the Amazon regions of Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, potentially benefiting around 3,720 producers. IDB Lab will also give AIV technical support to improve how it collects, checks and reports data on its results.
Brazil selects ten federal institutions to host solidarity economy incubators
Source: Ministry of Education (MEC), Brazil
Brazil’s Ministry of Education has announced the results of a public call to fund solidarity economy technology incubators within the country’s federal network of vocational and technological education. The programme is run with the Federal Institute of São Paulo and supported by the Ministry of Labour and Employment through its national programme for popular cooperative incubators (Proninc). Ten institutions will receive training on incubating community-based collective enterprises, plus funding for scholarships and equipment from October, while 16 more are on a waiting list. Later phases are expected to support up to 20 solidarity economy enterprises.
Mexican legislative committee backs allowing social economy organisations to join savings cooperatives
Source: La Coperacha
On 29 September, the Social Economy and Cooperativism Commission of Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies voted, with one abstention, to amend the General Law of Cooperative Societies so that organisations from the social economy sector, such as ejidos, cooperatives and mutual societies, can become members of savings and loan cooperatives. Under the proposal, each such organisation would have a single vote in general assemblies and its representative could not serve on the cooperative’s governing or oversight bodies. The measure still requires approval by the full Chamber and the Senate. Separately, the Superior Council of Cooperativism (Cosucoop) raised concerns about planned regulatory changes by the National Banking and Securities Commission, which an analysis by the National Cooperative Alliance says could impose significant costs on smaller savings cooperatives.
North America
New Jersey makes employee ownership transition programme permanent
Source: National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO)
New Jersey has enacted legislation, signed in September 2026, that puts the state’s support for businesses moving to employee ownership on a lasting footing. Employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), worker cooperatives and employee ownership trusts can receive grants toward feasibility studies, capped at whichever is lower: 90% of costs or $35,000. The New Jersey Economic Development Authority will appoint a programme director and continue its outreach partnership with Rutgers University and a new advisory committee will include members of the employee ownership community.
Survey finds few funders commit significant assets to investment tools designed to attract additional capital
Source: Boston Consulting Group
Boston Consulting Group surveyed more than 100 foundations, family offices, private wealth holders and advisers and interviewed over 20 of them along with wealth managers and private banks. The research examined funding approaches that use grants, guarantees and low-cost loans to bring in further outside investment. About three-quarters of respondents were familiar with these approaches, but only 21% allocated a large share of their assets to them. The most commonly reported obstacles were a shortage of suitable investment opportunities and difficulty measuring results and 42% of advisers described the instruments as too complex, a much higher proportion than among the funders themselves.
Oceania
New study identifies five types of risk in impact investing
Source: Auckland University of Technology
A new study by AUT researchers, reviewing 56 earlier studies, outlines five related ways impact investments can fall short, including benefits that never materialise and claims that cannot be checked. Based on these findings, the authors recommend that Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand introduce impact-risk statements for funds making specific impact claims, starting through regulatory guidance and certification rather than new legislation.
The research, by Syrus Islam and Claire Cui, is published in Business Strategy and the Environment.
Six social enterprises receive Australian Government capability grants
Source: Department of Social Services
The Australian Government has awarded Social Enterprise Development Initiative (SEDI) Capability Building Grants to six social enterprises in its latest funding round. Recipients include Sydney-based FoodLab, which supports emerging food businesses, along with enterprises working in disability rehabilitation and employment, Indigenous youth training, support for young people facing homelessness, school-based enterprise programmes and Torres Strait Islander tourism. According to the department, more than 60 social enterprises have shared over $6.6 million through the initiative since 2024.
Centre for Social Impact opens last round of national social economy survey
Source: Centre for Social Impact
The Centre for Social Impact has begun the third and final round of its Social Economy Survey, a three-year research project examining charities, not-for-profits, social enterprises, co-operatives, mutuals and philanthropic organisations across Australia. Chief executives and senior leaders are asked to complete the survey, which takes around 30 minutes, so that their experiences inform the study’s findings. Results from all three years will be combined in a national report due for publication in 2027.
