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Manufacturing a COVID-19 Recovery: Why Building Local Manufacturing Capacity Is Key To Africa’s Pandemic Response
COVID-19 is taking a heavy toll on sub-Saharan Africa's economies. And as Salma Okonkwo at Blue Power Energy Ltd. points out, the region is particularly vulnerable because it relies on international imports and exports for much of its GDP. She proposes an effective way to help Africa recover from the pandemic and build resilience to future shocks: developing local manufacturing.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Energy
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Bringing Refugee Camps Out of the Dark: An Entrepreneur-Driven Solution To Clean Energy for the World’s Most Vulnerable Communities
There are almost 80 million forcibly displaced people worldwide – and among refugees living in rural settlements, 90% have very limited access to electricity. Sofia Ollvid at SolarAid discusses its innovative collaboration in Malawi's Dzaleka refugee camp, which mobilizes the support of refugee entrepreneurs to bring solar lighting to a population that's been living in the dark.
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- Energy, Social Enterprise
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‘Our Only Competition Is Poverty’: How Avanti Finance Aims To Create a ‘Population-Scale’ Digital Microfinance Platform in India
India has long been a hotbed of digital financial innovation. Avanti Finance is an emerging innovator in the sector, with a digital lending platform that aims to bring affordable microfinance to even the poorest customers. NextBillion spoke with CEO Rahul Gupta to discuss Avanti’s unique model, and the challenges of serving low-income customers both efficiently and responsibly.
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- Finance, Technology
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Avoiding Information Overload: Four Lessons From a Performance Manager on How To Use Data To Drive Development Outcomes
Development impact bonds (DIBs) are a popular way to drive successful social outcomes – but assessing a program's effectiveness requires a lot of data. Dayoung Lee and Dia Banerjee at Dalberg Advisors share lessons they've learned from managing the performance of the world’s largest education DIB, showing how data can improve outcomes without causing undue burdens on the organizations that should be benefiting from it.
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- Education, Investing, Technology
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From Financial Inclusion To Inclusive Finance: The Power of Frameworks To Catalyse Change
In this age of information, we increasingly rely on data to inform our decisions. But as Amrik Heyer at FSD Kenya points out, the utility of data for guiding policy and investment depends on the paradigms and frameworks which influence our thinking. She discusses the power of frameworks in shaping research and informing financial inclusion policy and investment, using the example of the FinAccess survey in Kenya.
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- Finance, Investing, Technology
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Enabling Ecosystems: How To Boost Fintech Innovation and Financial Inclusion During and After COVID-19
Lockdowns in response to COVID-19 have rapidly accelerated digitalization worldwide, particularly in finance. But as analysts from the University of New South Wales, the University of Luxembourg, the University of Hong Kong and GIZ point out, ensuring the safe and inclusive development of digital finance is a major challenge. They explore why an ecosystem-based strategy could be the answer.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Technology
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When the Economics Don’t Work: Realigning Capital Markets with Development Impact
Agricultural SMEs in Africa face a daunting finance gap, and as Brian Milder, founder and CEO at Aceli Africa points out, current lending approaches aren't enough to fill it. He explores Aceli's solution: taking blended finance a step further by creating a mechanism to align impact with financial sustainability for capital providers across the entire marketplace.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Finance, Investing
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Making Smartphones Relevant for the World’s Poorest Farmers: An Interview With AgUnity CEO David Davies
Extreme poverty is increasing in countries around the world, particularly in last-mile communities where most people work in agriculture. In this Q&A, AgUnity CEO David Davies discusses his company's efforts to leverage low-cost smartphones and other technologies to provide smallholder farmers with practical tools to connect with each other and work their way out of poverty.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Coronavirus, Finance, Technology, Telecommunications