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Can Digital Credit Outperform Microcredit in the Developing World?
Microfinance has been hailed as a transformative force for poor households and entrepreneurs in emerging markets. But recent evidence suggests it is not the silver bullet it was once thought to be. Meanwhile, mobile phones have become ubiquitous in most developing countries, and Alexandra Wall, Natasha Beale and Carson Christiano explore whether digital credit can do a better job than microcredit in meeting the needs of the underserved.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
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Viewpoint: Impact funds not scaling fast enough in India
There isn’t any doubt that impact investors such as Aavishkaar have made tremendous progress over the past decade since venture capital as an asset class returned in earnest to this market. Over the last seven years, 2010-2016, impact investors have put $5.2 billion to work across 485 deals, according to a McKinsey & Co. report in September. It wasn’t until 2010 that impact investments in India started to gather momentum and the last two years have been quite exceptional. Investments touched the billion-dollar mark for the first time in 2015 and scaled to nearly $1.1 billion last year.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Region
- South Asia
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When Failure is Hard to Recognize: Facing Hard Truths about Microfinance
After decades of faith in the ability of tiny loans to transform people’s lives, quantitative research has revealed that microfinance rarely lives up to the hype. But in spite of their lackluster impact, microfinance projects have persisted – the question is, why? After seven years of observing various actors throughout the microfinance value chain, Erin Beck, an assistant professor at the University of Oregon, has an answer. She discusses how policymakers, MFI leaders, employees and even customers contribute to microfinance’s persistence.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
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Shift to ‘innovative’ financing to achieve 2030 SDGs pushed
If countries in Asia and the Pacific, like the Philippines, will achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, their governments must turn to innovative financing models. In a report, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Unescap) and Korea’s Science and Technology Policy Institute (Stepi) said meeting the SDGs worldwide could amount to $2.5 trillion.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Impact Investing Has it Backward: It’s Time to Prioritize the Needs of Social Enterprises, Not Just Investors
Impact investing is blissfully unaware – or intentionally ignorant – of social enterprises’ experience as they seek investments, contend Mara Bolis and Sarah Alexander. This process often involves accepting financial terms and/or partners that can distract from the social mission. Impact investing needs to start telling – and hearing – these businesses' stories, so they share a financing story that's emblematic of enterprises that prioritize social returns within fragmented enabling environments.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing, Social Enterprise
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Press release: Apparel Impact Institute Launches to Accelerate Environmental Impacts in Apparel and Footwear Industry
Despite widespread awareness of the environmental hazards within the apparel and footwear industry, few of the pilot projects designed to reduce impacts are operating at the scale needed to meet the critical environmental and social outcomes brands and consumers are seeking. The AII will identify promising projects that are working in limited geography, for example, or are targeting a narrow problem yet show potential for broader application. By applying the appropriate resources, the AII will help bring them to scale more quickly.
- Categories
- Environment, Impact Assessment
- Tags
- research
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Helping Farmers Rebuild After Civil War Isn’t Charity; It’s Good Business
As an agribusiness owner in Africa, GADC founder Bruce Robertson has grown weary of the silver bullet solutions proposed for transforming rural economies. In 22 years in Uganda, he has yet to see a quick fix. But private enterprise has enormous potential to improve rural lives when donors and businesses collaborate, he says, explaining GADC's "replicable model with huge potential for expansion."
- Categories
- Agriculture, Impact Assessment, Social Enterprise
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Funding Education With Impact: How We Can Address Student, Market Needs in India
Although education is one of the most funded causes among private social funders in India, including about US $45 million in impact investment per annum over 2014-2017, this has translated into near-universal access to education at primary school level but not in other education segments. Asian Venture Philanthropy Network's Martina Mettgenberg-Lemiere and Anh Nguyen propose some market-based strategies.
- Categories
- Education, Impact Assessment, Investing
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