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Lessons from a Decade of Investing in a Frontier Market: What Impact Investors Can Learn from Nepal’s First International Private Equity Fund
Over a decade ago, the first international private equity and impact fund dedicated to Nepal – Dolma Impact Fund — was launched. As Tim Gocher at Dolma Fund Management explains, in those days it was rare for Nepalese companies to receive any foreign direct investment, let alone institutional private equity or impact capital. He discusses the challenges Dolma experienced in bringing private equity investment to Nepal, and shares key lessons for other impact investors looking to enter frontier markets.
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- Energy, Environment, Investing
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Building Better Business Advisory Programs: Five Lessons from an Inclusive Marketing Bootcamp
Inclusive business models involve integrating low-income communities into the value chain as suppliers, distributors, retailers or consumers. As this approach has gained traction, advisory programs have emerged to help companies adopt and scale these practices. Beryl Oyier, Catherine Mwangi, Eyerusalem Mitiku and Rakib Hasan Rabbi at Bopinc share insights from an inclusive marketing program in Africa, highlighting five key lessons for designing more impactful inclusive business advisory programs.
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- Agriculture, Social Enterprise
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It’s Time to Talk about Founder Wellbeing in Africa: A Landmark Survey Highlights the Need for Greater Support
The pressure of building a successful business takes a mental, emotional and physical toll on entrepreneurs, and this can affect their business outcomes if they don’t make their own wellbeing a priority. Yet as Stella Klemperer at Flourish Ventures argues, the topic of founder wellbeing has not been given the attention it deserves. She shares insights from the first large-scale survey of entrepreneurs’ journey and wellbeing in Africa, including nearly 200 startup founders across 13 countries. As she explains, this research shows why supporting entrepreneurs' wellbeing is a strategic imperative for investors, founders and other stakeholders.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
- Tags
- impact investing, research, startups
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Tapping the Potential of Catalytic Carbon Finance: Could This Collaborative Approach Unlock Scale in Africa’s Off-Grid Solar Sector?
Addressing Africa's growing demand for reliable, renewable energy is essential for the continent's sustainable economic development. But as Peter Simiyu at EcoSecurities explains, despite Africa's ample clean energy resources, just 2% of renewable energy investments have been channelled to the region in the past decade. He explores how an innovative approach to catalytic carbon finance could help provide the funding businesses need to kick-start off-grid power deployment, enabling Africa to lead the global shift toward clean energy.
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- Energy, Environment, Investing
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A Missed Opportunity for Climate Tech Startups: The Need for Effective Early-Stage Marketing
The climate tech ecosystem is witnessing a wave of innovation and startup activity. Yet Emre Eren Korkmaz at the University of Oxford argues that these startups often overlook a key factor that's critical to their long-term success: the need for early-stage marketing strategies. He explains why marketing is a foundational necessity from day one, enabling climate tech startups to offer their solutions to potential clients in the corporate, public and impact sectors, across industries ranging from agriculture to aviation.
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- Energy, Environment, Technology
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Africa’s Startups Need Patient Capital: Could the African Diaspora Help Provide it?
African startup funding amounts to a tiny fraction of global venture capital (VC), and these investments are often concentrated on sectors like fintech and e-commerce. As a result, as Kristin H. Wilson at Innovate Africa Fund argues, African founders often lack the capital and incentive to tackle the continent’s biggest development challenges. She proposes a new approach to funding innovative African-made solutions to these issues — one that leverages the capital and entrepreneurial expertise of the African diaspora.
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- Health Care, Investing
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The Gender Aspect of the E-Mobility Transition: An Innovative Collaboration in Kenya Highlights New Ways to Bring Women into the Sector
The transition to electric mobility (e-mobility) represents a massive shift for consumers, businesses and other stakeholders. But as Dana Gorodetsky at the William Davidson Institute argues, it also creates an opportunity to engage women as electric vehicle (EV) entrepreneurs, designers, producers and drivers — and to design mobility solutions with women's needs in mind. She explores how Kenya is leading the way in ensuring a just and inclusive e-mobility transition, highlighting two companies that are working to boost women’s involvement in the EV value chain.
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- Energy, Environment, Transportation
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NextBillion’s Most Influential Articles of 2024: Congratulations to the Three Winners
NextBillion's “Most Influential Articles of the Year” contest has been a yearly tradition since 2012. The contest highlights 12 of our most-read articles from the past year and gives readers the opportunity to vote for their favorites. Here are our three Most Influential Articles of 2024, as selected by our readers.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Environment, Health Care, Investing, Technology
