(SocialFunds.com) - If the continent of Africa is indeed the last frontier of investment, can business-as-usual investment focusing on short-term financial gain be averted in favor of a sustainable investment approach? And if the continent's wealth of natural resources—60% of the world's uncultivated, arable land is in Africa, and commodities such as oil and raw materials are plentiful there as well—become, as is expected, a primary investment target for the significant inflow of capital, how critical are the risks involved if a sustainable investment approach is ignored?

According to Graham Sinclair, co-founder of the Africa Sustainable Investment Forum (AfricaSIF), "Investment in Africa will come, and when it does it can either have the greatest opportunity to do wrong, or have the greatest opportunity to do something positive. It's critically important that as the money arrives, it serves sustainable objectives."

Launched this year, AfricaSIF aims to encourage investment in Africa that incorporates environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) factors, by creating a network of investment practitioners and stakeholders who integrate ESG factors into investment decision-making. Sinclair told SocialFunds.com, "The opportunity we seek to exploit is to go straight past business-as-usual investment, and directly to sustainable investment."

For more on the SocialFunds.com article, visit: http://www.socialfunds.com/news/article.cgi/3006.html