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Avoiding the Great Divergence: How Community Investment Trusts Could Help Developing Countries Recover from COVID-19 and Achieve the SDGs
As the global economy gradually recovers from COVID-19, some fear the world is heading towards a “Great Divergence,” in which the recovery gathers momentum in richer countries while leaving developing countries behind. To avoid this outcome, emerging economies will need a surge of investment. To that end, Norman A. Bailey at The City University of New York and Alfred Watkins at the Global Solutions Summit explore why Community Investment Trusts provide an innovative model to finance pandemic recovery while building a foundation for sustainable growth.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Investing, Social Enterprise
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Beyond Energy Efficiency: Key Trends and Pathways to Scale in the Solar Appliance Market
Solar appliance uptake is a key element of global energy access efforts. But according to Yasemin Erboy Ruff and Lauren Boucher at CLASP, no appliance is close to reaching market saturation, despite considerable gains in recent years. They share highlights from Efficiency for Access' 2021 Solar Appliance Technology Briefs, which characterize the market, trends and pathways to scale for 11 off-grid-appropriate solar appliances and enabling technologies, and explore what these findings mean for the solar appliance market and the customers it serves.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Technology
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Ventures Platform, Hustle Fund Back Nigerian Fintech Brass in $1.7 Million Round
Aside from full-stack financial needs, including credit, small and medium businesses require other essential resources to understand their financial operations. Brass is a Nigerian fintech tackling these challenges by providing banking services to small and medium businesses.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Analysis: How Companies Can Partner With Social Enterprises in Their Value Chains
A growing number of leading companies are answering this question, in part, through partnerships with social enterprises. Social enterprises are mission-led organizations — for-profit or nonprofit — that tap market forces to explicitly create social or environmental impact.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
- Region
- Global
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Analysis: When Corporations and Social Enterprises Work Together, They Can Change the World
With the world reeling from the effects of COVID-19, climate change, and social inequality, and the risks of a global supply chain crisis mounting, business is feeling the pressure to set new commitments for operating in ways that respect human rights.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Social Enterprise
- Region
- Global
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Press Release: Deetken Impact and Adobe Capital Partner To Expand Flexible Financing to Impact-driven Businesses in Latin America
Deetken Impact, a Canadian asset manager, has entered into a joint venture partnership with Adobe Capital, a leading investment fund manager based in Mexico, to offer tailored and flexible financial instruments that support the growth of impact-focused businesses in the Americas.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Latin America
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Analysis: Google’s $1 Billion Africa Investment Sparks Tax Debate
Google's plans to invest $1 billion in Africa's tech infrastructure and talent over the next five years has sparked a debate over big tech's tax obligations.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Made in Africa, Sold Around the World: An African E-Commerce Innovator Connects Women Creators with Global Customers
Sub-Saharan Africa is currently one of the world’s smallest e-commerce regions, but as Moulaye Taboure at Afrikrea points out, it has seen 42% year-on-year growth from 2019-2020, and its leading markets are starting to mature, providing a foundation for continued growth. He explores how several factors are aligning to support the e-commerce industry’s continued momentum in Africa, and discusses Afrikrea's efforts to build a platform that enables local sellers – particularly women – to grow their businesses and sell their products worldwide.
- Categories
- Technology
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