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Proparco Invests US $20 Million in Frogfoot, Vox and Hypa to Expand Affordable Fibre Connectivity in South Africa
A key focus of the companies’ growth strategy is the expansion of fibre networks into lower-income and township communities.
- Categories
- Investing, Technology, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Africa Go Green Invests in Senior Debt Facility of USD $18 Million in Cold Solutions Rwanda
CS Rwanda will combine cold storage with packhouse, handling and refrigerated logistics services, providing an integrated solution from handling through to distribution. The development also includes a planned 440 kW rooftop solar installation and will target an internationally recognised green-building certification.
- Categories
- Energy, Health Care, Investing, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Right-Sizing IMM: Five Ways Impact Measurement and Management Can Work for Enterprises — Not Just Investors
Impact measurement and management (IMM) systems too often reward compliance over impact, extracting more than they’ve given back. According to Julia Mensink at Acumen and Heather Esper at the William Davidson Institute, impact data tends to be focused mainly on satisfying investors’ requirements, not informing investees' decisions — and gathering it often ends up consuming enterprises' time and resources and constraining their ability to create the impact they’re expected to measure. They share learnings from a gathering of IMM experts earlier this year, highlighting several ways investors, investees and IMM professionals can right-size these practices, aligning them with enterprises' actual decisions and integrating them into their core operations.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
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New Guidance on Applying a Child Perspective Within Gender Lens Investing
A new UNICEF guidance, developed in collaboration with 2X Global, shows how investors can intentionally apply a child lens within gender lens investing to strengthen and amplify outcomes for women, children, businesses and societies.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Global
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UNDP and UN Women Launch Financing Initiative to Support Afghan Women Entrepreneurs
The Afghanistan Women’s Fund for Resilient Enterprises (AWFRE) will provide Sharia-compliant financing alongside business development support, including financial and digital literacy training, mentoring, business planning and support to access markets.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
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Parked Capital is a Missed Opportunity: Why Donor-Advised Funds Should be Funding Climate Businesses Now
If philanthropic capital is waiting for a rainy day to address climate change, it’s already pouring. But according to Adam Fraser at Terraset, instead of supporting solutions to this challenge, a significant source of funding is either lying dormant — or actively contributing to the problem. As he explains, Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) are sitting on over $327 billion in capital: money that was already gifted to a charitable entity and earmarked for the public good. That money is invested in the market, growing tax-free, and sometimes even financing high-emission sectors like the fossil fuel industry, while innovative startups struggle to fund carbon removal and other climate solutions. He explores the sort of impact this funding could make if it were mobilized, and argues that the time to deploy it is now.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Investing
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IFC, Affin Bank Extend US $400 Million Financing to Women-Owned Businesses, Enterprises
Under the partnership, Affin Bank will channel funding to eligible MSMEs to support productive investment, strengthen business competitiveness and promote more inclusive economic development.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- South Asia
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BII Welcomes First Close of BlueOrchard Climate Action Mobilisation Fund
A key objective of the fund’s design was to meet the regulatory requirements of life insurers, including those of UK insurers seeking Matching Adjustment 1eligible assets under Solvency UK, which sets out regulatory requirements for insurance firms and groups.
- Categories
- Environment, Investing
- Region
- Global
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