NextBillion - A WDI Publication

Impact investment ?A Burgeoning Asset Class?

"Impact investment" - an embryonic market in which investors aim to achieve positive social or environmental gains - is beginning to emerge as a separate asset class and should be treated as such, says a report from JPMorgan and the Rockefeller Foundation . The study claims to be the most comprehensive look to...

Source

Financial Times (link opens in a new window)

Social Entrepreneurs Boost Cooperation to Reduce Poverty in Asia

Innovative thinkers working for social change converged in Seoul, Monday, in a bid to boost cooperation towards alleviating poverty and other problems in Asia. Some 300 agents of change known as social entrepreneurs - those who apply fresh paradigms to solve pressing human issues - gathered in southern Seoul for the second major gathering of the Asian Social Entrepreneurs Summit. On the first of two days of dialogue at the Kyoyuk Munwha Hoekwan Hotel, tackling pove...

Source

The Korean Times (link opens in a new window)

Region

Asia Pacific

Currency War: The Stakes for Africa

By Sanou Mbaye As a result of chronically deficient demand in the aftermath of the 2008-09 financial and economic crises, global imbalances are on the rise again, as is the risk of protectionism. The US thinks China is undervaluing its currency to support its industry. The situation could lead to an "international currency war". What does this herald for African...

Source

The Guardian (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Union Bank to Enter Microfinance Arena in AP

State-owned Union Bank of India (UBI) made its maiden foray into the micro-credit arena Monday (Nov. 22) with the launch of a new scheme covering 20 mandals in Andhra Pradesh, a state where microfinance activities were hitherto the preserve of private companies. "We have decided to lend 20 mandals about Rs 50 lakh each and we would extend this to about 100 mandals in this fiscal, which will be about Rs 50 crore by way of cash credit facility. T...

Source

Business Standard (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Understanding the Financial Landscape for Social Enterprise

The Social Investment Business’ Sue Peters examines the impact changes in the funding, lending and investment markets are having on social enterprise The financial climate for people running or setting up social enterprises is like that for business owners or any other entrepreneurs at the moment - the banks aren’t lending. Either finance isn’t available, or banks say the economic situation means they aren’t able to lend the a...

Source

The Guardian (link opens in a new window)

Brazil’s Cash Transfer Scheme Improving the Lives of the Poorest

Rumour has it that when senior civil servants at the Department for International Development (DfID) tried to interest the development secretary Andrew Mitchell in cash transfers, they couldn’t get anywhere. One morning he came across a column by my colleague Aditya Chakrabortty and was converted. Within a short space of time the "must rea...

Source

The Guardian (link opens in a new window)

Region

Latin America

India’s Microfinance Crisis Not a Threat to Banks

A steep drop in microloan repayment in India does not threaten the health of the nation’s banking system, analysts and regulators say. Many small borrowers in Andhra Pradesh state, which accounts for about a third of India’s microlending, stopped repaying their loans after a government crackdown on unscrupulous lending practices that allegedly contributed to dozens of suicides. Now the crackdown on microlending - small loans typic...

Source

ABC News (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

In Praise of Dorm Room Entrepreneurs

They come from the United States, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Finland, Germany, Sri Lanka and the list goes on. They run businesses ranging from a social network application that is claiming 20,000 new users a day to a company that turns the scraps from textile processing into rugs sold around the world, to a company that arranges travel and accommodations for college football fans headed to away games. And they’re all undergraduates who ...

Source

Portfolio (link opens in a new window)