NextBillion - A WDI Publication

Results

• News
  World Bank Approves $474 Million Loan to South Africa for COVID Vaccines

  The World Bank has approved a loan of 454.4 million euros ($474.4 million) to help South Africa fund COVID-19 vaccine purchases, the bank and South Africa's National Treasury said in a statement.

• Blog Post
  Leading the Way to Greater Impact: Why Addressing the Lack of Lead Investors is Key to Building Stronger Startups in Emerging Markets

  Raising capital is a critically important function for startups. But as Patricia Chin-Sweeney at Beyond Capital Ventures explains, there is typically a shortage of investors who are willing to lead an investment round – and until a lead is secured, the process of capital raising is in limbo. And unfortunately, many startup founders are unaware of this, wasting precious time speaking to funders who cannot lead the round. She explores the value that a lead investor role can provide to both startups and investors, and discusses the need for more lead investors in Africa and other emerging markets.

• Calendar Event
  ESG & Climate Risk Week

• News
  Press Release: Vice President Harris Announces More Than $1.9 Billion in New Private Sector Commitments as Part of Call to Action for Northern Central America

  The Vice President, U.S. Department of State, and the Partnership for Central America (PCA), come together to announce private sector commitments now total more than $3.2 billion

• Blog Post
  Expanding Financial Opportunity to All: Kiva CEO Chris Tsakalakis Discusses the Pioneering Lending Platform’s Evolving Focus

  In April of last year, Chris Tsakalakis was named CEO of the San Francisco-based microlending nonprofit Kiva, after successful leadership stints at Vivino, the world’s largest online wine marketplace, and StubHub, the world’s largest online ticket marketplace. We caught up with Tsakalakis roughly one year into his tenure at Kiva, to discuss his vision and priorities for the organization, the lessons he’s learned in his time at the helm, and his thoughts on the challenges and opportunities facing Kiva and the broader microfinance sector in the coming years.

• Blog Post
  The Virtuous Cycle of Representation: Why Global Health Boards Must Include the People They Serve

  Much of the global health sector’s work is concentrated in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, a new report from Global Health 50/50 reveals that just a quarter of board seats at global health organizations are held by nationals of these countries, and women from LMICs hold a shameful 1% of all seats. Anuradha Gupta at Gavi explores the decades-long, system-wide failure to ensure diversity in global health decision-making, and urges these influential bodies to do a better job of representing the communities whose health they are aiming to improve.

• Blog Post
  Resolving the Core Tension of Impact-Focused Fintech: A Viable Model for Reaching Rural Women with Digital Financial Services

  Reaching last-mile communities is challenging for a business that also has to attend to its own bottom line. Claudia Sosa Lazo at IDEO.org discusses a partnership between IDEO.org, BRAC, bKash and the Busara Center for Behavioral Economics that is seeking profitable ways to bring digital financial services to rural women in Bangladesh. She explains how the partnership provides a model for other businesses and NGOs that hope to unlock both profit and social impact, while bringing beneficial products to the world’s most excluded communities.

• Blog Post
  Business Solutions to a Humanitarian Crisis: Nine Things Companies Must Understand to Support Refugees from Ukraine – And Around the World

  As war rages in Ukraine, humanitarian efforts have struggled to keep pace with the needs of the refugees displaced by the conflict. According to Betsy Alley, an independent researcher and analyst with expertise in refugee business investment, the private sector can help. But how can businesses best contribute to something that has traditionally been a humanitarian affair? She shares nine learnings from the refugee crises of recent years, which show how enterprises and their employees can serve and empower refugees while also benefiting host communities – and their own businesses.