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Beyond Microcredit: Why Tackling Poverty Requires More Than a Loan
It's clear that microcredit is not enough to end poverty, say Gary Carrier and Harrison Pharamond of MCE Social Capital. But this does not stop MCE from investing in microfinance institutions. Instead, they maximize the impact of these investments by supporting MFIs in offering “credit-plus services” - additional services that address poverty holistically.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing, Social Enterprise
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Discussion Heats Up at SOCAP17: Tweets, Live Interviews & Highlights from Thursday’s Sessions
Discussion is heating up at SOCAP, and NextBillion's team of roving reporters will be providing a variety of on-the-ground coverage throughout the day, including Facebook Live video interviews, live tweeting from @NextBillion, and highlights from the sessions we'll be attending.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
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Glasses for the Masses: Because It’s Easier to Navigate a Path out of Poverty When You Can See
On this World Sight Day, VisionSpring President Ella R. Gudwin writes that though eyeglasses are a cost-effective poverty reduction tool, 2.5 billion people do not have the eyeglasses they need to earn and learn. Gudwin announces a new partnership with Target and Williams-Sonoma Inc. that aims to improve workers' vision on a grand scale to bridge the visual divide.
- Categories
- Health Care, Social Enterprise
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Wednesday at SOCAP17: Tweets, Live Interviews, & Quick Takes from Impact Investing’s Flagship Event
SOCAP17 is kicking into high gear, and NextBillion's team of roving reporters will be providing a variety of on-the-ground coverage, including Facebook Live video interviews, live tweeting from @NextBillion, and interesting quotes, tweets and takeaways from the panels we'll be attending, compiled in blog posts like this one.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
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Three Key Insights from GIIN Report on the Power of Capacity Building in Impact Investing
Capacity-building support, also known as technical assistance, is a vital tool used by many investors to complement their investments and expand and deepen their impact. When applied well, capacity building improves investor competitiveness, enhances business performance of investees, expands impact for beneficiaries and strengthens markets, writes Abhilash Mudaliar of GIIN.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
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Live from SOCAP17: NextBillion’s Schedule of Facebook Live Interviews with Top Names in Impact Investing
SOCAP is finally here, and as part of our coverage, we'll be interviewing a number of prominent leaders in the impact investing and social business world and broadcasting these interviews via Facebook Live (accessible on NextBillion's Facebook page). This lineup is still evolving, as people's schedules develop – so we may be adding or changing some of these interviews in the coming days. But here's the latest schedule.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
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Why Gyms Love January: Leveraging Behavioral Economics for Financial Health
People are famously irrational when it comes to financial matters. We can't seem to resist wasting money on things that we know aren't beneficial. Why do we make self-defeating financial decisions, and how can we be persuaded to change them? Evelyn Stark, financial inclusion lead at MetLife Foundation, discusses the ways financial service providers are leveraging behavioral science to help their clients spend less and save more, in the latest NextBillion podcast.
- Categories
- Finance
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‘Cross-sell Done Well’: How One Finance App Found a Balance Between Digital and Human Touch
Field officers at the Sajida Foundation, a microfinance provider in Bangladesh, knew their clients had rich financial lives, and that some held sizable savings balances to enable their goals. They also knew these clients could earn more by converting their savings to a term deposit account. Yet it was difficult for them to offer complex financial advice, or to answer questions around tiered interest rates and differentiated products. The Foundation worked with BFA to develop an Android-based app to address these issues – Ashirul Amin discusses the lessons learned.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
