Impact & ESG
Across two funds and fourteen companies we count five outcomes beside the return: jobs, women in work, small businesses financed, people banked, and the foreign capital that followed. This page is the other half, how we measure it, and who is accountable for it.
Developmental impact
A payments company, a school and a delivery fleet have little in common, so we measure them on what they do rather than what they sell. Portfolio totals across both funds, as reported by Lorax.
01 · Jobs
0k+
Every company we back is hiring. Twenty-seven thousand net new jobs since 2015, and a further forty-eight thousand supported in the businesses around them. The Fund I companies have grown from about 3,900 employees at entry to 16,000, and the Fund II companies from 17,000 to 34,000.
48k+ jobs supported · headcount at entry against today
02 · Women
0k+
About a third of the portfolio's workforce, and half of the new jobs created in the Fund II companies. Beyond payroll, a quarter of a million women entrepreneurs have been financed through our companies' platforms.
c. 35% of the workforce · c. 50% of Fund II's new jobs · 250k+ women entrepreneurs financed
03 · Small business
0.0m+
The corner shop, the pharmacy, the workshop. Our payments and lending platforms serve over a million small businesses, with EGP 40 billion of credit extended to them.
EGP 40bn+ in lending to MSMEs
04 · Financial inclusion
0m+
Fifty-three million people use Lorax-backed digital payment platforms. Five million of them had never held an account before.
53m+ users on portfolio platforms
05 · Capital
$0m+
Four international managers made their first investment in the market alongside us. Close to a billion dollars of new foreign capital followed, across Fund I and Fund II.
4 first-time international managers · approximate
Where it lands
Four of the UN Sustainable Development Goals run through every company. Two more apply where the sector does.
ESG framework
Our Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS) is aligned with the IFC Performance Standards, the EBRD Performance Requirements, the EIB standards and the Equator Principles, and we share our development finance investors' view that sustainable development is integral to the business rather than adjacent to it. Seven commitments, applied before valuation rather than after.
E&S management system
Environmental and social management is not a checklist we complete once. It runs through the whole life of an investment, and every stage leaves a record. The record is what our development finance investors audit, and what lets us say no early rather than late.
Assess
Every target is screened against the Lorax Exclusion List, and its material E&S issues are noted from the first look. A risk category then sets how deep the diligence goes: our E&S consultant visits the sites, tests the impact case and the risks, and writes the gap analysis.
Act
Findings become a time-bound action plan, with covenants written into the investment agreement. The investment committee sees the plan before final approval, so E&S conditions are part of the decision rather than a note after it.
Monitor
Implementation, incidents and compliance are checked on a cycle set by the risk category, and each company reports its E&S indicators every year. Investors receive an annual E&S report and the KPI returns their mandates require, and a grievance channel stays open to anyone our companies affect.
Monitoring progress
We work with management teams and specialist advisers to identify improvements, agree responsibilities and deadlines, and follow up on delivery. Company reporting, document reviews and site visits help us distinguish completed actions from work still in progress.
Employment
Working conditions
Responsible operations
Gender and governance
In the companies
Practical improvements in how people work, learn and access essential services. These examples draw on company reporting, including the 2025 environmental and social reviews; dated results refer to the reporting period stated.
MNT-Halan · Financial services
MNT-Halan's work on financial inclusion is supported by measures to protect customers. Its reported improvements include sharing repayment information between Mashroey and Tasaheel through the group's core banking system, and providing clients with cards setting out their loan terms. The group also maintains channels for customer complaints and a dedicated ESG and impact function.
Clearer loan terms and customer complaint channels
Orchidia · Pharmaceuticals
Orchidia's "Enek Fi Enena" programme has reached more than 7,300 villages with 1.5 million medical consultations, 150,000 cataract surgeries and 850,000 eye-drop treatments, and donates ophthalmic equipment to public hospitals.
7,300+ villages · 150k cataract surgeries
Misr Hytech · Agriculture
Egypt relied on imported seed. Hytech supplies more than 400,000 farmers with hybrids bred for local conditions, including drought-resistant and early-maturity corn, from its own research farm and breeding programme.
400k+ farmers supplied
Mylerz · Logistics
Mylerz helps young people build skills for the workplace. In 2025, it worked with Egypt's Ministry of Youth and Sports to deliver an artificial intelligence training session for 20 fresh graduates at its premises. Within the business, employees can raise concerns through a QR-code grievance channel, with investigations and corrective actions recorded.
20 graduates attended AI training in 2025
Rabbit · Quick commerce
Rabbit's 2025 reporting documents road-safety induction for riders, refresher guidance from store supervisors, and safety reminders through its delivery app. Active riders receive medical cover during working hours alongside accident insurance. Riders can also raise concerns through their supervisor or the app, supported by a defined grievance-resolution timeframe.
Documented rider training and insurance cover
ECC · Personal care
Across ECC Group, employee development and community health take practical forms. Infinity and Vision offered paid graduate internships in 2025, with some participants subsequently hired in HR. ECC organized blood sugar and blood pressure checks for workers and reported donations to Baheya Hospital and Ahl Masr Burn Hospital.
Paid internships and worker health checks in 2025
Dsquares · Technology
Dsquares offered two-month summer placements for undergraduates in 2025, alongside a year-long training program for graduates. Some participants went on to join the company. These programs give students and recent graduates practical experience before taking the next step in their careers.
Summer placements and a year-long graduate program
modupay · Payments
Across its card-manufacturing and digital-payments businesses, modupay ran educational summer programs and internships in 2025. It also helps some support staff pursue higher education by covering tuition and university expenses and providing study leave. A joint initiative with Baheya Hospital shared breast-cancer prevention information.
Educational summer programs in 2025
Rabbit · Food safety
Rabbit's food safety procedures include supplier inspections before contracting, ongoing supplier monitoring and independent laboratory testing. Store checks cover storage conditions, hygiene and staff practices, with corrective follow-up. New store employees receive training on food handling, allergens and workplace safety.
Supplier inspections, product testing and staff training
Environment
Environmental improvements take different forms across the portfolio: vehicles used for deliveries, materials handled in factories, and waste collected from offices. We focus on actions relevant to each business and the evidence available to track them.
Delivery vehicles. Mylerz reported purchasing 22 electric vehicles in 2025 for its Egypt operations, introducing electric transport into the fleet used to move customers' orders.
Recycling at work. Lucky continued working with licensed recycler Bekia in 2025, with segregated materials collected every two months. ECC and Smart Pack also reported separating recyclable materials for collection by authorized contractors.
Monitoring industrial operations. The card-manufacturing business within modupay tracks fuel and electricity use and calculates its operational greenhouse-gas emissions. Environmental checks at ECC and Smart Pack cover workplace conditions and emissions from production equipment.
Grievance mechanism
An employee, a customer, a neighbour: anyone connected to a portfolio company can write to our E&S officer, by email or by letter. Leave the details and a way to reach you.
Every request is examined, logged on the project file and forwarded to the right party, whether that is the company's management or the fund's senior management. Where it is warranted we review documents, audit, visit the site and put corrective actions in place. Every communication is answered in a timely manner.
Write to the E&S officer