NextBillion - A WDI Publication

Results

• Blog Post
  A Mini-Grid Milestone: Can the Industry’s First Trade Association Help Electrify Rural Africa?

  In April, the mini-grid industry got its first-ever trade association, as the Africa Mini-grid Developers Association (AMDA) launched with chapters in Kenya and Tanzania – and ambitious goals for expansion across the continent. Though AMDA's membership currently includes about a dozen companies providing 11,000 connections, it aspires to represent 90 percent of the mini-grid sector by the end of 2021. In a Q&A with Scott Anderson, AMDA co-founder Jessica Stephens discusses its plans to transform the mini-grid industry from a feel-good alternative to a power player in the energy sector.
  
  

• Blog Post
  Show Me the Money: How Much Do Accelerators Really Help Entrepreneurs Raise?

  Do accelerators really help social entrepreneurs raise more money for their businesses? Studies from the Global Accelerator Learning Initiative suggest the answer is yes, in both emerging markets and high-income countries – but their effectiveness varies greatly. Stephanie Buck of ANDE explores valuable insights from the research that can help optimize accelerators' impact.

• News
  Kenya moves to regulate fintech-fuelled lending craze

  “We have a lot of predatory lending out here, which we want to regulate,” Geoffrey Mwau, director general of budget, fiscal and economic affairs at the treasury, told reporters on Thursday.

• Calendar Event
  InterAction Forum 2018

• Blog Post
  More College = Less Poverty: The Impact of Peer-to-Peer Lending

  More than 57 million students globally are qualified but have not enrolled in higher education, mostly because they lack the money. Yet banks often don't want to lend to them, due to their lack of collateral, uncertain earning potential and long repayment periods. That’s why Ryker Labbee and Kirk Acevedo launched peer-to-peer student lender Zomia, targeting nearly 1 million potential college students in Myanmar and Cambodia. They explore how the model could scale into other markets and reduce poverty.

• Blog Post
  Your Customers Aren’t Data Points: How Social Enterprises Can Avoid Three Impact Investor Red Flags

  Villgro President PR Ganapathy has met with hundreds of early-stage social entrepreneurs – and he's noticed that they keep making the same mistakes when seeking impact investing. As part of NextBillion's “Survival Guide for Raising Capital” series, Ganapathy shares three essential tips to help entrepreneurs avoid some common red flags when pitching impact investors.

• News
  Using big data to link poor farmers to finance

  The global growth of microfinance banks has created new opportunities for financial inclusion, with outstanding lending of $100 billion to around 200 million clients. Yet the majority of lending from microfinance institutions has been to urban populations and not to the rural poor or small farmers.

• News
  After downturn, Islamic finance eyes profits, fintech: survey

  Islamic banks and insurers are focusing on profitability and new financial products as the industry shifts away from years of containing the adverse impact of low oil prices, an industry body said on Wednesday.