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How to Support Rural Social Enterprises: Three Key Learnings from a Field Visit in Malaysia
While global media coverage of the social enterprise sector often focuses on countries like India and Kenya, Malaysia remains relatively underrepresented in these conversations. Yet as Sreevas Sahasranamam at the University of Glasgow explains, the country has developed rich models of social innovation deeply rooted in indigenous knowledge systems, ecological stewardship and local resilience. He shares three key learnings from five community-led ventures, each of which demonstrates how practitioners and policymakers can best support rural social enterprises — not only in Malaysia, but globally.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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British International Investment Partners with Ecobank DRC to Expand Sustainable Financing for SMEs in the DRC
The facility will target sectors critical to the country’s economic development, job creation and more resilient supply chains in the real economy, including agriculture and agro‑processing, industrial, infrastructure, climate‑aligned projects and renewable energy, as well as local entrepreneurship.
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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$64 Million Botswana Tech Fund to Support Tech Startups Across Southern Africa
The Botswana Tech Fund (BTF), a multi-stage venture capital initiative targeting US$64 million in total commitments, has launched with the aim of supporting tech startups across Southern Africa.
- Categories
- Investing, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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High Expectations Require New Approaches: What Africa’s Social Innovators Need to Scale — And Why Support Systems Must Evolve
Social entrepreneurs are tackling some of Africa's biggest development challenges. Yet many struggle to scale beyond their initial promise, despite heightened expectations to deliver both jobs and social impact. And as Amabelle Nwakanma, Akolade Oladipupo, Abdullahi Ibrahim and Chukwuemeka Okeke at LEAP Africa explain, though accelerators, incubators and fellowships have proliferated across the continent to support these innovators, it's unclear if these programs are actually aligned with their current needs. They share insights from a study LEAP Africa conducted, with support from the William Davidson Institute, to better understand where current enterprise support models succeed, and where they fall short.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
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Village Capital Makes First Africa Ecosystem Fund Investments in Ghana
The initiative was created to support startups building solutions around economic mobility and climate resilience in Ghana, Nigeria, and Tanzania.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Namibia-Based Firm to Back Early-Stage Southern African Startups With $10 Million Fund
The fund will focus on sectors including fintech, agritech, healthtech, education, clean energy, e-commerce, and enterprise software.
- Categories
- Investing, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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IFC Discloses Proposed $25 Million Investment in Admaius’ Virunga Africa Fund II
The fund is targeting $500 million to invest in mid- to large-cap African companies.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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The DIV Fund Issues Request for Proposals
Through its tiered model, the Fund provides financing for early-stage pilots, rigorous evaluation of promising solutions, and the scale-up of interventions with demonstrated impact and cost-effectiveness.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
- Region
- Global
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