Te Pai Roa Tika is a new impact investment model in Tai Tokerau led by Te Kahu o Taonui.
Impact investment is defined as investing with the intention of generating societal and/or environmental impact alongside a financial return. Hoping to pave the way for impact investing in Aotearoa, Te Pai Roa Tika (previously known as Transforming Taitokerau For Good) with support from The Tindall Foundation has developed a Māori led and Māori owned model that respects and draws on tīkanga to support impact investing in Northland. Their bigger vision is to leapfrog the economic, social, and environmental systems in Taitokerau into a model that can be a role model not just for Aotearoa but for the world.
In an approach that is deeply rooted in Te Ao Māori, two entities are being established to accelerate the development of large scale, long term impact-based investments in Tai Tokerau. The first is a project development entity that will support and provide capacity building to the pipeline of impact investment opportunities in the region. A separate investment entity will focus on the commercial side and bring in other investors across New Zealand and eventually from around the world. This two-pronged approach, supported with both financial and non-financial assistance from The Tindall Foundation, will ensure that local initiatives are able to receive the development support needed to become investment ready, while also enabling the model to become attractive to global investors.
Foundation North has awarded two grants towards the initiative – the first for the initial conceptualisation and development of the model, and the second to enable the setup of the structures and partnerships. A systems and indigenous-led approach to impact investment is a first for Aotearoa and has led to increased investor interest in the region. Over $180M of investment opportunities have been identified in Taitokerau across nine priority areas: agriculture, aquaculture, digital, energy, fisheries, forestry, housing, tourism, and water. Through their work, Te Pai Roa Tika is hoping that impact investment will “deliver both individually and as part of the wider system, a sustained higher standard of living, described as oranga (wellness), while enhancing the interdependent relationship between tangata (people) and whenua (land).
If we want change, success and prosperity for our people and our places then we need to lead it... so we are!
For the Taitokerau Māori economy to realise its potential, a fundamental systems change was required that had our people leading their own development and the investment decisions related to that. To date investment approaches have been siloed and impact limited. Te Pai Roa Tika is the collective iwi response to creating the change that is needed. As a self-sustained investment platform that has the economic wellbeing of our communities and Te Taiao at its core, Te Pai Roa Tika is driven by our values and principles and brings forward projects from our communities that have the potential for long term large scale impact that matters to our people. Foundation North was at the forefront of enabling this to occur.