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Chopping Block to Starting Block: How OPIC (Now IDFC) is Writing the Next Chapter in U.S. Development Finance
The Overseas Private Investment Corp. (OPIC) just survived a near death experience. The agency was among the proposed cuts when the Trump administration came into power and began budget negotiations. But with the passage of the BUILD Act, OPIC will transform into the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, with a new budget and a new set of financial tools. We caught up with David Bohigian, Executive Vice President of OPIC, at SOCAP18 to find out what these changes mean for entrepreneurs and others seeking development finance.
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- Entrepreneurship, Finance, Investing
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Impact Investing Impasse: The Case for 4-Hour Due Diligence
Impact investors are often guilty of stringing along social entrepreneurs with needlessly long due diligence processes, "abusing their power and privilege," says Andy Lower at investing firm A Different Approach to Poverty. Weeks can easily turn to months – a delay that's unfair to entrepreneurs, and unacceptable in other industries. In response, his firm has devised a four-hour due diligence process, which has sparked interest – and a fair amount of push-back – in the sector. Lower discusses the approach in this provocative Q&A.
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- Investing, NextBillion Originals
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A 21st Century Approach to Social Progress: Cross-Sector Partnerships as a Possible Solution
For years the public, private and nonprofit sectors have worked separately to address key global challenges. But now, those challenges have outgrown this piecemeal approach, say the authors of the new book “Social Value Investing: A Management Framework for Effective Partnerships." In this Q&A with NextBillion, authors Howard W. Buffett and William B. Eimicke explore why cross-sector partnerships are the best way to create lasting social impact – and how to make those partnerships work.
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- Investing
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Trust, Not Peer Pressure: Adapting the Global Microfinance Model for the U.S.
After years of working with global MFIs at Whole Foods’ Whole Planet Foundation, Steve Wanta saw that the group lending model that helped microentrepreneurs abroad could also work for Hispanic female entrepreneurs in Texas. But he also realized that the traditional microfinance model could function better with a few twists. In this Q&A with NextBillion, Wanta discusses the lessons he's learned leading the nonprofit JUST, which is adapting the microfinance model for the U.S. market.
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- Entrepreneurship
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How Can Corporations Make the Transition to Sustainability? A Q&A with the Authors of ‘All In’
Global corporations can play a major role in addressing the core social challenges of our time. But how can they make the transition to sustainability – especially when many of their business models depend on unsustainable resources or practices? That's one of the questions explored in 'All In: The Future of Business Leadership,' a new book by three leading thinkers in corporate sustainability. In this Q&A, the authors discuss the keys to effective corporate sustainability leadership, the importance of the year 2030, and the ways smaller social enterprises can contribute.
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- Entrepreneurship
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The Partnership Nightmare: What’s Wrong with the Social Sector’s Approach to Funding – And How to Fix It
Whether it's due to misaligned expectations, mutual distrust or power imbalances, interactions between social impact organizations and their funders can be nightmarish – for both sides. Social sector advocates Jessamyn Shams-Lau, Jane Leu and Vu Le have written a new book about these challenges, called "Unicorns Unite." In this Q&A, they discuss what's gone wrong – and how to make it better. Subscribers to NextBillion’s weekly e-newsletter can read an excerpt of the book throughout June.
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- Entrepreneurship, Investing
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A Mini-Grid Milestone: Can the Industry’s First Trade Association Help Electrify Rural Africa?
In April, the mini-grid industry got its first-ever trade association, as the Africa Mini-grid Developers Association (AMDA) launched with chapters in Kenya and Tanzania – and ambitious goals for expansion across the continent. Though AMDA's membership currently includes about a dozen companies providing 11,000 connections, it aspires to represent 90 percent of the mini-grid sector by the end of 2021. In a Q&A with Scott Anderson, AMDA co-founder Jessica Stephens discusses its plans to transform the mini-grid industry from a feel-good alternative to a power player in the energy sector.
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- Energy
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Impact Investing Lessons for NGOs: Mercy Corps’ Scott Onder Discusses its Social Venture Fund
We don’t typically associate NGOs, particularly humanitarian organizations like Mercy Corps, with impact investing. But since 2015, Mercy Corps has run the Social Venture Fund, which invests in and accelerates the growth of innovative, scalable ventures that can positively impact millions in the developing world. NextBillion interviewed Scott Onder, managing director of the fund, about Mercy Corps' experiences as an investor, the rationale behind this ground-breaking approach – and lessons for other NGOs that may be considering a similar move.
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- Entrepreneurship, Impact Assessment, Investing
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Press Release: ABC Fund Makes First Investment, Backing Cocoa Cooperative in Côte D’Ivoire: https://t.co/8A69jTX9ZS (link opens in a new window)… https://t.co/t9GTGpXOHN (link opens in a new window)
