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Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg are backing a controversial education program in East Africa
Though it operates with the mission of providing high-quality, low-cost education for all, Bridge has drawn criticism from some education experts and teachers unions for the model it uses to make good on that mission.
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Kiva Launches A Fund For Refugees And You Can Help
It may not seem so now, but whether people would loan money to a stranger was a pretty big question when Kiva.org started in 2005. One billion dollars later, the answer is a resounding yes.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- microfinance, refugees
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The Rise of a New Asset Class: Can ‘PAYGo Finance’ Connect Investors to Low-Income Customers?
Lendable has pioneered a marketplace lending platform that connects alternative lenders in East Africa with impact and institutional debt investors, to provide financing for leased assets like solar panels and motorcycles. According to BFA, providing these alternative lenders with structured debt financing could potentially give rise to a new asset class: PAYGo finance. If successful in raising funds from investors at scale, the Lendable approach could bring financing for low-income individuals full circle.
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Hit or Miss: A Weak Critique of Impact Investing — and a Strong One
We should welcome a robust debate over impact investing that’s not just confined to foundation board rooms; a larger audience needs to hear the different arguments. But as new criticisms start to flow, I’ve noticed that while some raise very good questions, others feel wildly off base.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- impact investing
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Base of startup funding pyramid has shrunk sharply in India; angel, seed deals down
The number of angel and seed investments made in the first half of 2017 (January to June) is down to 260, a sharp drop from 419 in the first half of 2016, according to data from startup analytics firm Tracxn.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- South Asia
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An insurance giant is shifting $130 billion into ethical investments
The world's second-largest reinsurer is 90 percent of the way through shifting its holdings from tracking traditional benchmarks, a process it expects to complete by the end of the third quarter in 2017.
- Categories
- Investing
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World’s First Social Sustainability Bond Listed on a Stock Exchange
The US$8 million bond provides loans to social enterprises and microfinance institutions, which, in turn, aim to help more than 385,000 women in Cambodia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Through Social Investing, Asia’s ‘On a Journey to Help it Help Itself’
AVPN's recent annual conference, known as “Asia’s top social investment event,” attracted representatives from 32 countries, including 18 Asian ones, reflecting the reality that activity is taking off across the region, says John-Paul Hamilton of Dasra. And it seemed fitting that the conference centered on collaboration, which is more essential than ever to ensure a progressive and suitable continuum of funding.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
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