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Helping Farmers Rebuild After Civil War Isn’t Charity; It’s Good Business
As an agribusiness owner in Africa, GADC founder Bruce Robertson has grown weary of the silver bullet solutions proposed for transforming rural economies. In 22 years in Uganda, he has yet to see a quick fix. But private enterprise has enormous potential to improve rural lives when donors and businesses collaborate, he says, explaining GADC's "replicable model with huge potential for expansion."
- Categories
- Agriculture, Impact Assessment, Social Enterprise
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Funding Education With Impact: How We Can Address Student, Market Needs in India
Although education is one of the most funded causes among private social funders in India, including about US $45 million in impact investment per annum over 2014-2017, this has translated into near-universal access to education at primary school level but not in other education segments. Asian Venture Philanthropy Network's Martina Mettgenberg-Lemiere and Anh Nguyen propose some market-based strategies.
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- Education, Impact Assessment, Investing
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Adding the Secret Sauce: The Recipe for Turning Young Social Entrepreneurs into Impactful Leaders
Six years ago, Alanna Sousa couldn't even pronounce the word 'entrepreneurship,' but she soon fell in love with social entrepreneurship. Sousa recounts her journey from naively opening a 'consultancy for social impact' in her native Brazil to learning the importance of mentoring and coaching for success in the social business sector. She now works for the Global Good Fund, which trains young entrepreneurs to tackle urgent social problems.
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- Uncategorized
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Sanitation Solutions: Stop Using Water as a Resource
NextBillion sits down with Isabel Medem roughly two years after we first wrote about her sanitation company, x-runner. The firm, Peru's first certified B Corp., provides in-home sanitation in the slums of Lima, by combining portable, dry toilets and a weekly pick-up system. Here, Medem talks about the firm's progress and some of the challenges facing sanitation worldwide.
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- Uncategorized
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Beyond Microcredit: Why Tackling Poverty Requires More Than a Loan
It's clear that microcredit is not enough to end poverty, say Gary Carrier and Harrison Pharamond of MCE Social Capital. But this does not stop MCE from investing in microfinance institutions. Instead, they maximize the impact of these investments by supporting MFIs in offering “credit-plus services” - additional services that address poverty holistically.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing, Social Enterprise
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Glasses for the Masses: Because It’s Easier to Navigate a Path out of Poverty When You Can See
On this World Sight Day, VisionSpring President Ella R. Gudwin writes that though eyeglasses are a cost-effective poverty reduction tool, 2.5 billion people do not have the eyeglasses they need to earn and learn. Gudwin announces a new partnership with Target and Williams-Sonoma Inc. that aims to improve workers' vision on a grand scale to bridge the visual divide.
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- Health Care, Social Enterprise
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Three Key Insights from GIIN Report on the Power of Capacity Building in Impact Investing
Capacity-building support, also known as technical assistance, is a vital tool used by many investors to complement their investments and expand and deepen their impact. When applied well, capacity building improves investor competitiveness, enhances business performance of investees, expands impact for beneficiaries and strengthens markets, writes Abhilash Mudaliar of GIIN.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
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‘Cross-sell Done Well’: How One Finance App Found a Balance Between Digital and Human Touch
Field officers at the Sajida Foundation, a microfinance provider in Bangladesh, knew their clients had rich financial lives, and that some held sizable savings balances to enable their goals. They also knew these clients could earn more by converting their savings to a term deposit account. Yet it was difficult for them to offer complex financial advice, or to answer questions around tiered interest rates and differentiated products. The Foundation worked with BFA to develop an Android-based app to address these issues – Ashirul Amin discusses the lessons learned.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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