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Elbow to Elbow: Convening Donors and Practitioners to Optimize Blended Finance for African Agriculture
Official development assistance isn't enough to bridge the SDG financing gap, or to unlock the growth and impact potential of African agricultural enterprises. Blended finance is often cited as a solution, but according to Brian Milder of Aceli Africa, it's falling short both in terms of impact and private capital mobilized. He explains the reasons for these limitations, and examines the perspectives of both donors and lenders to show how catalytic capital can be leveraged more effectively.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Investing
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Press Release: The State of Blended Finance 2020 Addresses Ways To Turbocharge the Market To Achieve Scale and Advance the SDGs
Convergence, the global network for blended finance, launched the 4th edition of the State of Blended Finance today.
- Categories
- Investing
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IFAD Makes Landmark Investment in Impact Fund Helping Rural SMEs
In a continuation of its efforts to help small-scale farmers and micro-, small and medium size rural enterprises in developing countries create jobs and increase incomes, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) announced today an investment of US$9 million (€8.4 million) into the Agri-Business Capital (ABC) Fund, a blended capital impact fund.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Closing in on the SDG Home Stretch: A Q&A with Florian Kemmerich and Lucica Ditiu at SDG500
Six new funds comprise the new SDG500 initiative – a first-of-its-kind, $500 million investment platform aimed at accelerating progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Florian Kemmerich at Bamboo Capital Partners and Lucica Ditiu of the Stop TB Partnership spoke with NextBillion to share a behind-the-scenes look at how the initiative aims to reach its goals by 2030.
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Press Release: Convergence Grantees Mobilize $550 Million Towards Blended Finance for Global Development
The Design Funding program awards grants to design blended finance solutions that attract private capital to global development at scale.
- Source
- Press Release
- Categories
- Finance
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Making Subsidies Smarter: How to Create More ‘Bang for the Buck’ in Blended Finance
Blended finance can be a powerful approach to closing the SDG financing gap – and as Bjoern Struewer at Roots of Impact argues, it inevitably involves subsidies. But for those subsidies to be worthwhile, they must be provided in return for tangible development impact – and not eaten up by the cost of maintaining complex financial structures. Struewer explores how subsidies should be leveraged to maximize the impact of blended finance.
- Categories
- Investing
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Waiting Game: Where is All the Investment in Solar-Powered Productive Use Appliances?
The solar industry has helped over 360 million people in off-grid communities gain access to basic electricity – and the sector is moving beyond just lighting. Many companies now offer household appliances and, increasingly, “productive-use” appliances that support income-generating activities. However, investment in companies deploying these technologies remains minimal. Leslie Labruto at Acumen and Jeff Stottlemyer at CLASP explore the problem, and some potential solutions.
- Categories
- Energy, Entrepreneurship
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‘It’s Not About Subsidies’ – And Five Other Myths About Blended Finance
The excitement around blended finance is growing – but so are the misconceptions about it. Bjoern Struewer at Roots of Impact highlights five myths about the approach, and argues that investors and public funders should admit – and embrace – one inconvenient truth: By providing catalytic capital to mobilize commercial investment, blended finance is subsidizing private investors' returns.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Investing
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