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Cambodian Workers Owe $10 Billion in Microfinance Debt as COVID-19 Wipes Out Incomes
As COVID-19 wrecks Cambodia’s economy, workers and families face added risks from record-high levels of microfinance debt. Without income, many will be unable to repay their microloans and may lose their land or be forced further into debt.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- microfinance
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Can Emerging Economies Afford a “Green” Recovery From COVID-19?
The dramatic slowdown in industrial production, energy demand and transport activity in the first quarter of 2020 has led to significantly lower levels of air pollution, sparking debate over whether the coronavirus outbreak will lead to long-term shifts in consumer and industrial behaviours that could reorient economic policy towards sustainable development goals.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Energy
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Viewpoint: Downturn Signals Opportunity for Climate-Aligned Investing
Demand for sustainable ETFs has grown since the market downturn. Recent analysis from BlackRock highlights how sustainable ETFs keep attracting assets, in comparison with traditional ETFs, which are experiencing outflows in light of the market selloff. As of March 24, net inflows to sustainable ETFs had reached $14 billion, exceeding half of the 2019 total amount.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Environment, Investing
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A Look at How UN Development Funds Are Recalibrating SDG Funding
COVID-19 funding will likely impact the long-term financing prospects of the Sustainable Development Goals, experts say. For now, U.N. development funds are relaxing restrictions so agencies can accommodate the necessary reality of joining COVID-19 with SDG work.
- Categories
- Coronavirus
- Tags
- global development, SDGs
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Viewpoint: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Financial Inclusion
COVID-19 is the force majeure that has swept across continents at lightning speed, leaving in its devastating wake a financial contagion like no other, with the global economy said to have contracted by 12% in Q1 alone and the downturn described as the worst since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
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Press Release: ImpactAssets Launches Impact Investing COVID Fund in Response to Activated Investors and Philanthropists
ImpactAssets, a nonprofit impact investment firm that invests in funds and companies that create social and environmental return alongside of financial return, today announced the launch of the ImpactAssets COVID Response Fund, a hybrid of rapid-response charitable giving and flexible impact investing with an initial capacity of more than $1 Billion in investment opportunities.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Investing
- Tags
- impact investing
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Coronavirus Is Triggering Deep Digital Change in African Fintech
In a bid to curb the spread of the virus, the World Health Organisation has been cautioning against the use of hard currency and encouraging the use of digital payments. This move has prompted African governments and regulators to enforce measures aimed at facilitating more cashless transactions.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- digital finance, fintech
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Where to Invest in Africa in the Face of COVID-19
As Africa heads towards recession, it’s not easy to know where to invest. Akinyi Ochieng and Isaac Kwaku Fokuo, Jr. highlight three areas that are likely to fare better during the downturn
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa