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Insuring the Next 400 Million in India: Why the Mutual Insurance Model Presents a Clear Path to Scale
COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on India’s healthcare system, causing challenges ranging from a lack of medical oxygen to limited hospital capacity. But as Payal Agarwal at Uplift Mutuals explains, the pandemic has also brought to light the inadequate insurance infrastructure in the country, which accounts for almost 18% of the world's population but only 1.72% of the global insurance market. She shares the results of a new report exploring the potential of mutual and cooperative insurance to close that gap in India, and discusses how this model can be scaled.
- Categories
- Finance, Health Care
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Understanding COVID-19’s Impact on PAYGo Solar: Data From a Pioneering Study Reveals Key Insights About the Sector’s Financial Sustainability
The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on PAYGo solar, causing up to 23 million people and 600,000 enterprises to miss out on improved energy access. Drew Corbyn at GOGLA, Bill Gallery at IFC and Roan Borst at Triple Jump share the results of a first-of-its-kind study that measured the impact of the crisis on the sector’s financial performance, based on data collected from 13 PAYGo solar companies. They discuss what these findings mean for the industry as it works to emerge from the pandemic’s ongoing disruptions.
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- Coronavirus, Energy, Finance, Impact Assessment
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Rethinking the Role of Business in Conservation: Why Small Local Enterprises are Key to Biodiversity and Climate Action
Climate change mitigation and adaptation are a key focus of attention in the global development sector. But according to Julia Rohe-Frydrych and Luis Ebert at adelphi, these discussions tend to overlook the conservation of the planet’s biodiversity, and they often fail to envision a role for the private sector that goes beyond providing climate finance. They argue that climate change and biodiversity loss are two sides of the same coin, and explore the importance of empowering local businesses that profit from the protection or restoration of nature.
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- Environment, Impact Assessment
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How to Build a Career that Will Change the World: Six Keys to Shifting Your Work Toward Social Impact
With the rise of remote work, the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed many people's professional lives. But Roshan Paul at the Amani Institute points out that the crisis has also had a profound impact on young professionals, prompting a global reassessment of the meaning of work. With millions of people questioning the very purpose of their work and pushing their organizations to address social problems, he explores the movement towards impact-first work, sharing insights from his new book “The New Reason to Work: How to Build a Career That Will Change the World.”
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- Education, Social Enterprise
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The Power of Women in Cocoa: Supporting Female Farmers Could Boost Liberia’s Access to Lucrative Premium Markets
Women farmers are essential to the production and trade of cocoa in West Africa, and often comprise a majority of the farming workforce. But as Sabine Garbarino, Amelia Duggan and Kim Beevers at GROW Liberia explain, women's importance to the sector is not always recognized, despite the key role they play in maximizing the quality of cocoa beans. They explore how the work of female farmers drives the cocoa industry in Liberia – and why efforts to support these farmers can open the door to more lucrative market segments and greater social impact.
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- Agriculture
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Improving Financial Solutions for Women Micro-Entrepreneurs: A Report Highlights Key Focus Areas for Microfinance Providers
The disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women is well-established – and for women micro-entrepreneurs, these impacts are compounded by existing business, financial and household challenges. Brit Heiring at Kiva and Liz Larson at UNESCAP explore how microfinance institutions and other providers can design financial solutions that meet these entrepreneurs’ unique needs. They share data from a report that focuses on the realities facing women micro-entrepreneurs, and explore how financial service providers can effectively support them.
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- Finance
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Changing the Gatekeepers: Why Female Fund Managers Are the Key to Unlocking More Inclusive Capital
Greater access to capital could boost the financial empowerment of women entrepreneurs. Yet as Melanie de Nysschen at SAVCA and Yeabsira Zewdie at MiDA Advisors point out, women comprise just 11% of senior investment professionals in emerging markets – the people who serve as gatekeepers to capital. Since women investors are significantly more likely to support female entrepreneurs, they explore the impact of increasing women's presence among investment professionals, and share insights from interviews with female fund managers in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana that highlight their biggest challenges.
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- Investing
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Failing to Learn from Failure is Undermining Energy Access: Why the Lack of Transparent Discussion is Putting SDG7 at Risk
Despite the clear need for sustainable energy and clean cooking solutions, energy access projects frequently fail – and all too often, these failures go unreported. According to Iwona Bisaga at Modern Energy Cooking Services and Julia Tomei and Tash Perros at University College London, the lack of discussion of failures is holding back progress toward global energy access. They share insights from a new study that examines what failure means to different actors across the sector, assesses the different types of failures that occur, and explores why the topic is so rarely discussed.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment
