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Better Loans for Better Homes: A New Assessment Tool Helps Microfinance Institutions Increase Their Housing Impact
Most housing in developing countries is self-built and incremental, and these homeowners frequently turn to microfinance institutions (MFIs) to finance it. But according to Naeem Razwani and Jitendra Balanirom of Habitat for Humanity’s Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter and Olivia Nielsen of Miyamoto International, this type of construction process can lead to severe quality and structural issues – while also increasing the lending risk for MFIs. They discuss how a new assessment tool can help these lenders understand and optimize the impact of their home loans to better meet the needs of this market.
- Categories
- Finance, Impact Assessment
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Kenya: Women Pay More to Access Mobile Money Services
According to the report, Payments System Design and the Financial Inclusion Gender Gap, the study conducted in major towns across the country shows a strong gender bias in transaction fees, with women paying about Sh11 per peer-to-peer transaction, compared with Sh7 for men, on average.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Potential of Floating Solar PV in Africa Vastly Underrated
Many African countries are heavily dependent on hydropower to provide baseline power, which is being affected by increasingly frequent droughts. At the same time, Africa is characterised by a very high solar potential.
- Categories
- Energy, Impact Assessment
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Addressing the Unanswered Questions of Sustainable Development: How ‘Lean Experimentation’ Can Boost the SDGs
The deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals is growing closer, and with many targets well behind schedule, extraordinary efforts will be necessary to achieve them. Toshi Nakamura at Kopernik argues that these efforts will require the development sector to quickly answer an important question: Which interventions are effective – and which are not? To that end, he explores the value of Kopernik's "lean experimentation" approach, which can be used to assess a wide range of interventions, to quickly determine which are worth scaling or replicating.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
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Documenting a Historic Year in Emerging Markets Business: Vote for the Top NextBillion Article of 2020
Like many of you, we're not sorry to see the end of 2020. But as we look back on this historic, tragic year, NextBillion would like to take a moment to appreciate the extraordinary work done by enterprises, NGOs, researchers and others in the emerging markets business sector. They have risen to the occasion in ways that can best be described as heroic – while sharing their insights in nearly 100 COVID-19-focused articles on our platform. Several of these pieces are included in our "Most Influential Article of the Year" contest, which launches today. We invite you to read these articles and vote for your favorites – the contest runs from Dec. 21 to Jan. 2.
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2020 MOST INFLUENTIAL ARTICLE CANDIDATE: Fighting Extreme Poverty During COVID-19: Two Proven Ways to Build Resilience in Times of Catastrophic Disruption
COVID-19 has disrupted life for practically everyone around the world, but people living in extreme poverty are particularly affected. And some estimate that the crisis could push over 80 million more people into extreme poverty. Muhammad Musa at BRAC International discusses two programs that could reduce this impact, improving the lives of marginalized communities both during and after the pandemic.
- Categories
- Coronavirus
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2020 MOST INFLUENTIAL ARTICLE CANDIDATE: Impact Measurement and Management During COVID-19: Tips and Resources to Help Social Impact Organizations Adapt
As the scope of the COVID-19 economic crisis becomes clear, social impact organizations are scrambling to cut costs. According to Matthew Guttentag and Mallory St. Claire at ANDE, this might lead them to reduce their focus on impact measurement and management (IMM). They explain why this would be a mistake – and how organizations can adapt their IMM activities during the crisis.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Impact Assessment
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Action Platform Succeeds in Accelerating Business Reporting on the SDGs
A ground-breaking initiative to drive corporate action on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has significantly advanced reporting practices and identified areas for further improvement.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
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