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Optimizing Results-Based Financing for Off-Grid Energy: Why Localization Can Provide a Pathway to More Effective Investment
Leading investors across the energy access sector have embraced results-based financing (RBF) as a key mechanism to unlock private capital for small-scale solar and mini-grid businesses, and to advance the world toward universal electrification. But according to Audrey Desiderato at SunFunder and Martijn Veen at SNV, the remote design and management of RBF programs increases the risk that these funds will exclude local actors and innovation. They share findings from a recent white paper exploring the need for more localization in results-based financing for off-grid energy.
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Developing Social Entrepreneurs into Sales Leaders: Effective Practices to Adopt – And Common Mistakes to Avoid
Succeeding in social business requires entrepreneurs to exert strong executive leadership in multiple business functions. As Scott A. Roy at Whitten & Roy Partnership argues, one such area is sales, which is often a weak point for social entrepreneurs, even though it's the revenue generator for their companies. He shares some essential sales development practices – and common mistakes – that social entrepreneurs in emerging markets need to understand to optimize their own sales efforts and maximize their business success.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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Sustainable Finance, Before and After COVID-19: What the New Focus on Public Sector Investment Means for Blended Finance
Before COVID-19 hit, sustainable finance was on a clear pathway towards success, with private sector capital leading the way. Then the pandemic started, necessitating a massive mobilization of government resources and putting the public sector’s role in the spotlight. Massimiliano Riva at the U.N.'s Joint SDG Fund explores this shift, comparing the pre- and post-COVID prospects for sustainable finance in developing countries, and discussing how blended finance can bring the public and private sectors together to maximize their combined impact.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Investing
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Curbing Deforestation in Sub-Saharan Africa: Why Woodfuel Alternatives Are a Key Sustainable Solution
Deforestation is rampant in sub-Saharan Africa – the only region where the pace of forest loss has increased in each of the last three decades. According to Ian Otula and Aaron Pattillo of Vuma Biofuels and Wassa N’Gandjo Cisse of the BESTSELLER Foundation, the root cause of this crisis is the fact that woodfuels provide over 80% of the region's energy, and there's an alarming imbalance between supply and demand. They explore how woodfuel substitutes can offer a solution to this issue – and how Vuma Biofuels is leveraging these sustainable fuel sources to address a key driver of deforestation in Kenya: the tea industry.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment
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It’s Time for More Open Source in Energy Access. Here’s Why.
What needs to happen to achieve global access to energy by 2030? Tamara Mahoney of EnAccess spent several years talking to energy access innovators about the best way to move the sector forward, and a common viewpoint emerged from those conversations: An open-source approach is necessary to achieve universal energy access. She explains why this model is both effective and inevitable, and discusses EnAccess' efforts to support new technologies, business models and knowledge in energy access by funding and sharing open-source tools and innovations.
- Categories
- Energy
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Four Insights for Better Measurement: What Businesses Can Learn from the Public and Nonprofit Sectors
In the public and nonprofit sectors, comprehensive monitoring, evaluation and learning approaches are increasingly common – but many small and growing businesses (SGBs) lack the time and resources for these practices. Heather Esper, director of the Performance Measurement and Improvement team at the William Davidson Institute, shares four key data collection and measurement insights from the public and nonprofit worlds that businesses — particularly SGBs — can leverage to improve their decision-making and maximize the social and financial value of their data.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
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From Local Manufacturing to Digital Tech: How African Organizations are Pivoting to Support Maternal and Child Health During COVID-19
There have been substantial improvements in maternal and child health in sub-Saharan Africa over the last two decades, but the COVID-19 pandemic has put these gains at risk, as both maternal and perinatal outcomes are worsening in countries across the continent. Shraddha Kothari of Intellecap details how some organizations have adapted to respond to these challenges, exploring how they're using technology-based solutions, local manufacturing and innovative partnerships to prevent further deterioration of maternal and child health outcomes in the region.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Health Care
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Under-Skilled and Outdated: Why India Could Lose Out on Nearly $1 Trillion in GDP if it Fails to Upskill its SMEs
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for around $700 billion – roughly 27% – of India’s $2.6 trillion gross domestic product. But impressive as those numbers sound, Samir Sathe at Wadhwani Foundation points out that they're nowhere near the 40% of GDP that policymakers hope SMEs will generate in the coming years. He explains why India could lose out on around $0.75 trillion in SME contributions to GDP by 2027 if it fails to prioritize and fund skill development efforts, and discusses what the public and private sectors can do to train entrepreneurs more effectively.
- Categories
- Education
