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Bumps and Slowdowns in UK Social Impact Bonds
At a recent program of Georgetown Law School and Independent Sector on the for-profit social enterprise dynamic in the U.S., the gap between the hype and the reality of social impact bonds was evident
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- Finance
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Social Impact Bonds in Latin America: Reframing Social Development in the Region
The Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a member of the Inter-American Development Bank Group, in March launched a $5.3 million fund to test a new social sector financing tool: Social Impact Bonds. This fund is a window to a promising new approach to social development in Latin America. SIBs hope to improve the effectiveness of social programs through an alignment of incentives and a powerful multi-sector partnership.
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- Finance
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Putting Microbusiness on the Map: U.S. students survey local businesses to compete for social enterprise seed funding
In the U.S., 3.7 million people remain long-term unemployed. Without job opportunities, many Americans are becoming entrepreneurial out of necessity - but they often lack capital. That’s why Lend for America is working with local students in the Philadelphia area to provide microfinance for social entrepreneurship.
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- Finance, Impact Assessment, Social Enterprise
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Best Practices in Mobile Finance: Four fundamental service features that can have a positive impact on people’s lives
There is a growing amount of evidence on how best to provide financial services to the poor. The Gates Foundation’s Jake Kendall and Rodger Voorhies highlight some emerging trends from the research that they think constitute “best practices” for the field.
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- Finance, Telecommunications
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Mobile Money Movers – Part 4: An interview with Greg Chen, Senior Financial Sector Specialist at CGAP
In Part 4 of our Mobile Money Movers series, Mercy Corps’ Kyla Yeoman and Greg Chen, Senior Financial Sector Specialist at CGAP, discuss the benefits of moving toward a cashless society, and the ways that financial service providers are using technology and innovation to onboard (and maintain) new clients and increase uptake among the unbanked.
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- Finance
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NextThought Monday: Three Assumptions You Should Avoid When Working with the BoP
My goal in Villa El Salvador — an urban, residential district on the outskirts of a desert area in Lima —was to supervise a focus group with inhabitants of this neighborhood that will be part of a broader study that IDB’s Opportunities for the Majority is developing as part of its 2014 knowledge production strategy. Many of participants in the focus group surprised me with some of their answers, as they went against many of my rooted preconceptions.
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- Finance, Technology
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The Power of Interoperability: An interview with Zahir Khoja, CEO of MasterCard’s Mobile Payment Solutions
Lack of interoperability is widely seen as a key barrier to mobile money’s global uptake. But MasterCard’s Mobile Payment Solutions thinks it has found an answer. In this interview with Mercy Corps’ Kyla Yeoman (part 3 of our Mobile Money Movers series), CEO Zahir Khoja discusses the challenges of working with telcos, banks and merchants, and the ways that an interoperable payment tool can impact people’s daily lives at the BoP.
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- Finance
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The Power of Choices: Applying behavioral economics to financial services – part 1 of our interview with Alexandra Fiorillo, VP at ideas42
If you’re working to alleviate poverty, steering people toward wise financial choices can make a huge difference. That’s why we’re excited to introduce ideas42, a consulting organization that specializes in behavioral economics, as a content partner on NextBillion Financial Innovation. We spoke with their VP Alexandra Fiorillo about how behavioral economics can be used to promote financial inclusion and improve lives at the BoP.
- Categories
- Finance
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