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Aligning Capital with Justice: How Innovative Finance Can Enable the Final Stretch Toward Energy Access in Africa
The world has made unprecedented progress toward universal energy access, and today over 90% of the global population has electricity. But as Roeland Menger at Nithio explains, the remaining 10% live in rural and low-income communities — primarily in Africa — that typical business and funding models can't reach. He argues that the exclusion of these markets is not only ineffective but unjust, and highlights several innovative investment approaches that are expanding decentralized energy to the last mile.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Investing
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The ABCs of Catalytic Sunsetting: How Foundations and Other Philanthropic Funders Can Exit Boldly — And Leave a Bigger Legacy
What if the best way to ensure your philanthropic legacy … was to close your doors? As Nancy Swanson-Roberts at Linked Foundation and Kusi Hornberger at Dalberg Capital argue, the world’s most pressing problems demand urgent, bold action that incremental giving over generations often can't enable. They explain why philanthropic organizations like Linked Foundation are deliberately spending down their assets within a defined timeframe to catalyze systemic change — an approach they call “catalytic sunsetting" — and share three strategies that can help any funder exit with purpose and power.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
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What You Need to Know About Nature Finance Ahead of COP30
With the U.S. government largely absent from tropical forest diplomacy, a new generation of Global South-led initiatives is filling the gap, and changing the landscape for corporate action.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Global
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Kenya Invites Bids for Rural Broadband Rollout Under $390 Million Digital Economy Project
The entire procurement process will be managed under the World Bank's stringent governance framework to assure international bidders of a level playing field.
- Categories
- Technology, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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HewaTele Secures $10.5 Million From AfricInvest to Deliver High-Quality Medical Oxygen Across Kenya
This funding marks a significant step toward addressing one of East Africa’s most critical yet overlooked healthcare challenges: the availability of high-quality medical oxygen.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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IFC Invests in IIX’s Women’s Livelihood Bond™ 7 to Fund High-Impact Women Enterprises in South and Southeast Asia
The subordinated debt will be invested through the Advancing Gender Equality, Resilience, Opportunity and Inclusion Worldwide (GROW) facility, in partnership with the Government of Canada.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- South Asia
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Mobilizing More Capital for African SME Funds: New Research Reveals Persistent Market Constraints — And a Growing Focus on Innovation
Over the past decade, African SME fund managers have experienced remarkable growth, diversifying geographically, across asset classes and in fund structures. However, according to Marianne Vidal-Marin at Investisseurs & Partenaires (I&P) and Julia Kho at Triple Jump, SME investing remains challenging across the continent. They share insights from a new I&P report exploring the current SME fund investment landscape in Africa — the first in a series of NextBillion articles on what makes SME finance work across emerging markets, and in Africa in particular.
- Categories
- Investing
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CrossBoundary Access and ANKA Announce $20 Million Mini-Grid Partnership in Madagascar
"This partnership will connect over 62,000 Malagasy people to electricity by 2026."
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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