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One Village at a Time: A Women-Led Model for Bringing Digital Services and Financial Inclusion to Rural Bangladesh
Women customers constitute a huge market in rural Bangladesh, where many men have migrated to cities or foreign lands in search of work. Garima Singh at FinValue Advisors explores how the Bangladeshi financial services company Zaytoon Business Solutions is expanding access to digital financial and government services in rural communities — while boosting women's empowerment and employment — by extending its agent network to include "village digital booths" staffed by local women.
- Categories
- Finance
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Putting Communities at the Center of Impact Measurement: Why Locally Led Evaluations are Key to Measuring Project Success
Development organizations and donors often measure impact by asking if their target population was lifted, to some degree, out of poverty. But as Henok Begashaw at iDE argues, traditional impact measurement approaches centered around poverty reduction — like household surveys designed by outside technical experts — can fail to capture the key outcomes of an initiative. He explores the benefits of a locally led measurement approach that allows organizations to develop a rich picture of project outcomes, based on what beneficiaries themselves say is important.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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Replacing Old Technologies or Creating New Markets?: The Pros and Cons of Two Paths to Impact for Productive Use of Energy
Productive use of energy (PUE) technologies have the potential to unlock higher incomes and reduce reliance on more costly, non-renewable energy sources in rural and low-income communities. Dan Waldron, Chris Emmott, Yash Vardhan Gaddhyan and Ruth Wairimu at Acumen discuss the advantages and disadvantages of two different paths to impact for PUE: replacing inefficient, fossil fuel-based incumbent technologies, vs. disrupting entire markets with innovative PUE approaches.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Investing, Technology, Transportation
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Water Scarcity Can’t be Solved by a Single Sector: How Businesses and NGOs Can Work Together to Advance Water Security
Around the world, 2 billion people still lack access to safe drinking water, and a staggering 3.6 billion people lack basic sanitation, as of 2021. Amelia Metcalf at Water Unite argues that the vast scale of these challenges has created an urgent need for collaborative action between water-focused non-profits/NGOs and for-profit businesses, especially corporations and larger enterprises. She explains how this sort of partnership can deliver benefits to both sides — while offering a key opportunity to combat water scarcity at a global scale.
- Categories
- Environment, Investing, WASH
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The Pros and Cons of a Family-Like Culture in Social Enterprise: How to Build an Organizational Culture That Doesn’t Compromise Your Mission
In the world of social entrepreneurship, the line between work and family often blurs. Many social enterprises count actual family members among their staff or leadership, and many others pride themselves on their family-like cultures. But Andreana Drencheva at King’s College London argues that this close-knit organizational culture can also have downsides. She shares research that highlights the benefits and costs of family-like cultures in social enterprises, and presents strategies that can help entrepreneurs maximize the advantages while minimizing the risks.
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- Social Enterprise
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Reversing Climate Change is Possible — But First, We Need to Democratise Climate Finance
Much of the current conversation around climate change focuses on the obstacles that make the problem so difficult to solve. But according to Kevin Kyer at Pyrpose, there are signs of hope, as a growing, global sense of urgency around the issue is driving consumers to embrace sustainable products and behaviors. He explores how emerging technologies and businesses are helping to reduce Co2 emissions — and how platforms like Pyrpose can help mobilize climate-conscious investors to direct climate finance to the most vulnerable parts of the world.
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- Environment, Investing
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Building Businesses, Rebuilding Lives: A Holistic Approach to Supporting Refugee Entrepreneurship
For refugees, running a business is often a big part of their efforts to rebuild their lives. Jacinta Mutie, Paul Karanja and Patrick Guyer at RefugePoint share learnings from RefugePoint‘s comprehensive refugee entrepreneurship support initiative, exploring how the program provides refugees with the stability, business skills and funding they need to move themselves and their households along their path towards self-reliance.
- Categories
- Education
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Promoting Financial Inclusion in the Caribbean: A Broken ATM in the Bahamas Reveals the Need for Digital Banking Solutions Across the Region
Imagine if your only access to your salary and savings depended on a single ATM. Now imagine that someone takes a hammer and smashes it up. As Nicholas Rees at Kanoo Pays explains, that was the situation facing a community in The Bahamas after vandals damaged the district’s sole ATM. He discusses the challenges experienced by remote, cash-dependent populations across the Caribbean, and explores how Kanoo Pays' digital wallet leverages offline payment capabilities and Central Bank Digital Currencies to address these customers' unique needs.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
