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Blog Post
India has achieved impressive growth in women's financial inclusion — recent statistics show that 79% of the country's women are financially included. But according to analysts at MSC, there are troubling questions about whether these women are truly benefiting from their newfound financial access. They discuss why financial inclusion often fails to impact female customers, and how viewing financial services for women through the lens of gender centrality could help.
When Inclusion is Not Inclusive: What Needs to Change to Achieve Meaningful Financial Inclusion for WomenBlog Post
Farmer protests in New Delhi have dominated headlines in India in recent weeks. They come in response to a series of farm bills that were passed into law in September, with the goal of shifting the agriculture sector away from traditional state-regulated markets and toward a more open system. Rupika Singh, Praachi Khera and Tony Senanayake at IDinsight discuss the pros and cons of these new laws, the underlying challenges facing India’s agricultural systems, and the ways that data and evidence can help leaders set these markets up for success.
A Sector in Transition: How Data and Evidence Can Set India’s Agricultural Markets on the Path Toward a Successful FutureNews
A lack of water puts health care workers and patients at higher risk of COVID-19 infection.
Press Release: Almost 2 Billion People Depend on Health Care Facilities Without Basic Water Services – WHO, UNICEFBlog Post
Despite limitless demand, most water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) businesses – particularly those serving the poorest customers – are struggling to find a market and attract investors. Annie Hall at Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor shares insights from a new report that explores where WASH businesses are going wrong – and how investors and development sector players can help.
What’s the Matter with WASH?: Why Struggling Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Businesses Need More than Just InvestmentNews
The Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) publish today the Europe Sustainable Development Report 2020, the second independent quantitative report on the progress of the European Union, its member states, and other European countries towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), agreed by all UN member states in 2015.
Press Release: The EU Should Make 2021 the “Super Year” for Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in Europe and Globally, Shows New Report by SDSN and IEEPBlog Post
Agriculture should be a key market for rural energy providers in Africa. Growing agribusinesses and smallholder farmers need modern energy to thrive, and rural energy enterprises need reliable consumers to anchor demand for their services. Yet as Seth Silverman and Tom Chaplin at Factor[e] Ventures explain, a gap remains between the two industries, and ag-energy projects struggle to draw commercial investment. They explore some promising ways to fill that gap, sharing lessons from a new report.
The Nexus of Agriculture and Energy in Africa: Five Lessons for Bridging the Ag-Energy GapBlog Post
So far this year, 75% of global investment commitments in off-grid solar technology have gone to just three companies — a troubling trend since 2012. And as Kevin Johnstone at the International Institute for Environment and Development points out, many of the founders of the biggest solar companies are North American or European. Focusing on Kenya, he explores why the energy access sector needs more businesses founded, managed and run by local entrepreneurs, and what needs to be done to align investors and capital markets with Kenyan investment opportunities.
Where’s the Capital for Home-Grown Companies? Why Energy Access Investments in Kenya Need to Go LocalBlog Post
One reason COVID-19 has been so damaging to global micro and small enterprises (MSEs) is that consumers have shifted towards purchasing online – a change that has mainly benefited large corporations. According to Malika Anand at BFA's Catalyst Fund, making digital commerce more inclusive could help these businesses survive and grow in the long term. She shares research from Ghana that highlights several promising opportunities for digital commerce innovations that can benefit informal MSEs.
An Unlevel Playing Field: Why Small Businesses Face Disadvantages in Digital Commerce – and How Inclusive Tech Innovations Could Help
