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• News
  Perspective: Bridging the two fuels in an economy: energy and finance

  An energy revolution is under way. Globally, renewables-based electricity capacity has seen more investments than fossil fuels in the past three years. Yet, many remain wary of investing in renewable energy particularly in developing countries, which have large untapped potential for both solar and wind energy. These are generally perceived as challenging markets in which to operate, especially by risk-averse investors. So, why do clean energy investments continue to be viewed as risky, despite evident trends pointing to the contrary?

• Blog Post
  How Do Consumers React to Psychometric-Based Credit Scoring?

  Nearly 50 million Americans and literally billions more around the world have limited access to affordable credit – primarily due to a lack of credit histories. What's worse, many of these underbanked individuals are actually in decent financial standing – they simply do not have sufficiently mature credit scores. Psychometric (ie: personality-based) credit scores can address this issue – but how do customers feel about it? Saul Fine at Innovative Assessments shares results from recent surveys that aim to answer that question.

• Blog Post
  Five Ways the Private Sector Can Align with the Sustainable Development Goals

  How can the private sector advance the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and what’s the best way to measure the success of these efforts? Those questions were among the topics explored at the recent Sustainability and Development Conference at the University of Michigan. Yaquta Kanchwala Fatehi and Dana Gorodetsky at the William Davidson Institute attended the event, and they share some essential insights on the private sector’s role in supporting the SDGs.

• Blog Post
  Navigating the Informal Economy Is Vital for Africa’s Rural Youth: How Do We Help Them Do That?

  Growing the formal employment sector is vital to the long-term health of African economies, but it’s not generating jobs fast enough for young people just entering the workforce. A partnership between the Mastercard Foundation and TechnoServe has provided training and mentorship to nearly 69,000 young people across rural Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda by helping them navigate existing opportunities in the informal sector. Chris Donohue at TechnoServe shares how helping young people build multiple sources of income is creating meaningful change in their lives.

• Blog Post
  AI for All: How India Can Become an Artificial Intelligence Superpower

  From asking questions to Siri, to watching a movie served up by Netflix’s algorithms, it's now common to interact with products powered by artificial intelligence. As Brinda Sapra at Vera Solutions explains, AI is predicted to contribute $15.7 trillion to the global economy – and $957 billion to India’s economy – in the near future. She explores why – and how – India should harness the disruptive potential of AI, rather than fearing its impact on employment.

• Blog Post
  Rethinking the ‘Africa Play’: Why We Held Back from the Africa Investment Frenzy

  Earlier this year, the investment committee at Blue Haven Initiative’s Ventures team raised a painful question: Did they miss the boat? As managing director Lauren Cochran explains, they'd only made one new investment at a time when the venture market in Africa was exploding. But it soon became clear that the growth-at-all-costs model other investors were adopting was never going to work in Africa. Cochran explains why investors should "forget the ego-boost of big rounds and press releases" and take a more fundamental approach.

• Blog Post
  Too Risky for the Crowd? Assessing the Potential of Crowdfunding for Energy Access

  Crowdfunding raised $77 million for energy access between 2015 and the end of June 2019 – and the industry is on pace to generate over $200 million in crowdsourced financing by 2020. But despite this growth, Davinia Cogan at Energy 4 Impact points out that crowdfunding remains on the periphery of discussions about energy access finance. With the sector's estimated $33 billion in commercial capital needs, she explores whether – and how – the crowd can be part of the financing mix.

• Blog Post
  A Spectrum of Solutions: How Impact Investors Are Funding the SDGs

  Toniic recently released a report showing how impact investors are aligning their work with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Kristin Siegel, director of Toniic's 100% Network, discusses the findings – which include data from 76 Toniic member portfolios totaling $2.8 billion in committed capital. She points out that the data show how impact investors are "going beyond current media darlings" to include a variety of SDG-related focuses in their portfolios.