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Press Release: The Lab Selects Eight New Climate Finance Solutions Expected to Unlock USD $600 Million for Emerging Markets
The selected initiatives will undergo seven months of incubation and stress testing, receiving technical support and guidance from experts within the Lab’s extensive network of public and private investors. After that, they will be eligible to receive grant funding of up to USD 250,000 to move from design to implementation.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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FMO Supports CiGaba to Unlock Domestic Capital for Young and Growing Businesses in West Africa
CiGaba is a pioneering fund of funds designed to mobilize domestic institutional capital into private equity and private debt investments targeting young and growing businesses in Ghana and selected West African markets.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Accelerating Climate-Health: How the Sector Can Become Africa’s Next Strategic Investment Frontier
Africa faces a growing dual challenge at the critical nexus of climate and healthcare, as countries and health systems that are already strained by chronic underinvestment must now also deal with climate-related shocks and disease burdens. As Rajat Chabba at the William Davidson Institute and Martin Slawek at Open Capital Advisors explain, without targeted investment in integrated climate-health solutions, these health systems risk becoming overwhelmed, undermining public health and climate resilience across the region. But they also argue that these pressures create a clear opportunity for investors, businesses, and public and development-sector players. They explore why climate-health presents a compelling investment case in Africa.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Health Care, Investing
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Viewpoint: Are Tech Solutions Fixing Mobility in African Cities or Just Masking the Problem?
Ride-hailing and mobility apps do not build roads. They do not expand rail systems or redesign cities. Instead, they optimize access to what already exists.
- Categories
- Transportation
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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When Uncertainty Becomes Structural: Entrepreneurship Support Organisations as Ecosystem Infrastructure in a New Fiscal Reality
Over the past year, the global development sector has changed at a speed and scale that would have seemed unlikely even two years ago. According to long-time development consultants Stephen Hunt and Nelson Okwonna, as funding dries up and uncertainty becomes structural, entrepreneurship support organizations (ESOs) are increasingly providing the collective functions that were once financed, governed and sustained through donor- and publicly funded programs. They discuss the implications of this shift for ESOs and entrepreneurs, exploring what it reveals about the key needs of entrepreneurship ecosystems — and about how ESOs must evolve to meet those needs.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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Press Release: Rockefeller Foundation, Global Energy Alliance Invest More Than US $100 Million to Expand Electricity in Africa
Since The Rockefeller Foundation and the Alliance first announced their initial US$10 million commitment, their collective support has grown to more than US$100 million for Mission 300 in 23 countries to date.
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Adenia Hits $180 Million Hard Cap at First Close for Entrepreneurial Fund, Announces First Investment
The successful first close underscores the continued appetite among global investors for disciplined, impact-oriented strategies in Africa. It also highlights the emerging theme of consolidation and institutionalization within the African private equity landscape.
- Categories
- Investing
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The Trade-offs in African Energy Access are Real: Why Electrification Efforts Must Prioritise Industrial Use over Household Connections
In the face of stagnating progress, a debate has emerged about whether energy access efforts in Africa should prioritize household or industrial and commercial electrification. Taiwo Odugbemi, a power sector regulation specialist and economist, pushes back on the argument that household access should take precedence over industrial uses — and the assertion that Africa can pursue both goals simultaneously. He explains why maintaining a dual focus may not be realistic, given the continent’s grid limitations and constrained public resources, and argues that African electricity policies must evolve to prioritize productive use, particularly in industrial and agro-processing hubs.
- Categories
- Energy
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