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MetLife Foundation Is Proud to Present Its 2016 Annual Report
When MetLife Foundation launched our financial inclusion strategy in 2013, the financial inclusion industry was beginning to show that a well-coordinated global effort could produce impressive results. We saw that more than 2 billion people lacked access to formal financial services. But we also saw how steadily that gap was being closed.
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- Uncategorized
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Africa’s Future Lies in Entrepreneurship, Industrialization
The 2017 African Economic Outlook report, released during the African Development Bank (AfDB) annual meetings, in Ahmadabad, India, predicts an uptick of growth in 2017, after a tough 2016 and Africans should push for accelerated development by harnessing local resources to boost entrepreneurship and drive its industrialization.
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- Entrepreneurship
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Foreign aid is being cut, but business will keep fighting poverty
In the past 10 years, private sector investment to developing countries has been growing faster than foreign aid. Indeed, developing countries now receive 27% more foreign business investment than development aid – a trend likely to grow over time. Even the lowest-income countries, as classified by the World Bank, have seen business capital flow into their economies at dizzying rates, with investment increasing nearly nine-fold since 2000.
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- Investing
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Ten Years Since Industry Was Formally Established, Impact Investing Exhibits Growing Track Record and Broad Investor Satisfaction
Capturing data from 209 of the world’s leading impact investors, this survey presents a detailed analysis of market activity, capital flows (including by geography and sector), and investor insights into key market topics. In 2016, survey respondents committed a total of USD 22.1 billion into nearly 8,000 impact investments.
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- Investing
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IDB-UNDP report identifies steps to leverage Islamic finance for impact investing
Given that impact investment is growing rapidly and has become an important source of funding the SDGs, a blending with Islamic finance provides a formable partnership that could play a significant role in achieving the SDGs.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
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How Big-Donor Philanthropists Can Get Results
According to The Bridgespan Group, a Boston-based consultancy for philanthropists, only 20% of philanthropic commitments of $10 million or higher go to organizations or initiatives making a social change—such as improving public health, the justice system, the environment, or international development.
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- Investing
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Guarantees Transforming Impact-Investing Finance
“Guarantees are underutilized in impact investing, and hence there’s great potential for scaling their use,” says Abhilash Mudaliar, director of research at the GIIN.
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- Investing
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A growing share of aid is spent by private firms, not charities
Haiti is one example of a trend. Though not all countries break down aid spending according to the type of contractor used, data from those that do suggest that a growing share of aid is funnelled, not through charities or non-profit foundations, but through consultancies and other private-sector contractors that profit from the work.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment