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Supporting Women-led Businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa During COVID-19: Strategies to Survive and Thrive
Women-led businesses in Africa face many obstacles, from limited access to finance and networks, to social and legal constraints – and COVID-19 has only added to that burden. In response, Nathalie Gogue Ebo and Angela Kerubo at Open Capital argue that governments, financiers and other players need to apply a gender lens approach when designing COVID-19 support for these enterprises.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Entrepreneurship
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Have We Reached the Tipping Point in Racial Equity Investing?
In the past few weeks, racial equity and justice have been the central rallying cry, across the world. This has prompted many individuals and institutions to speak out against racial injustice, not least in the investing industry. On June 10, Confluence Philanthropy, a membership network of foundations and impact investors, launched a pledge for racial equity. The pledge is a commitment to “discussing racial equity at our next investment committee meeting.” As of June 13, 67 institutions have signed up, representing $533.96 billion in assets under management.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
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Designing for Women: How COVID-19 Could Allow Government Payment Programs to Boost Women’s Economic Empowerment
Governments around the world are deploying government-to-person programs to address the economic crisis caused by COVID-19. But as Amanda Schwartz at IDEO.org points out, unless these programs are designed around women’s unique needs, they could exacerbate gender inequality and financial exclusion. She explores how a gender inclusive approach could "make the single biggest push for women’s economic empowerment that the world has ever seen."
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Entrepreneurship, Finance
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A Digital Approach to Reducing Educational Inequality in Africa – During and After COVID-19
As COVID-19 spreads through sub-Saharan Africa, its long-term impact on children's education is becoming clear, as over 253 million students are not in school due to closures caused by the crisis. Wambura Kimunyu at Eneza discusses the company's innovative platform, which provides educational content via SMS texts – and how it's working to expand access to the platform in response to the pandemic.
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- Education, Technology
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Press Release: Visa Foundation Commits $210 Million to Support Small and Micro Businesses and Immediate COVID-19 Emergency Relief
“Two hundred million dollars in new financial resources demonstrates our continuing commitment to support small and micro businesses, with a focus on women’s economic advancement globally,” said Graham Macmillan, President of the Visa Foundation. “When women thrive, communities thrive. We know this matters now more than ever as the global economy seeks to recover and rebuild.”
- Categories
- Coronavirus
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Viewpoint: We Must Invest Differently to Support Women and Girls
Many of the structural issues at the root of gender inequality are locked in and magnified by our current financial system.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- gender equality, GIIN, impact investing, UN, Women
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Commentary: The impact investing talent war heats up
The next generation of impact investing leaders will include more women and finance professionals.
- Categories
- Investing
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What’s Working – And What’s Not – in Africa: A New Report Aims to Inform Better Development Practice on the Continent
The challenges facing Africa are substantial – but so too are the unique assets the continent possesses. As the development sector works to address those challenges and leverage those assets, it's useful to highlight both the approaches that are working – and those that aren't. That's the goal of Next Generation's recent report on the social investment and development industry trends impacting Africa. Reana Rossouw explores its findings.
- Categories
- Technology
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