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Making Subsidies Smarter: How to Create More ‘Bang for the Buck’ in Blended Finance
Blended finance can be a powerful approach to closing the SDG financing gap – and as Bjoern Struewer at Roots of Impact argues, it inevitably involves subsidies. But for those subsidies to be worthwhile, they must be provided in return for tangible development impact – and not eaten up by the cost of maintaining complex financial structures. Struewer explores how subsidies should be leveraged to maximize the impact of blended finance.
- Categories
- Investing
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Charting the Course for SDG Financing in the Decade of Delivery
Despite a tremendous increase in the number of initiatives dedicated to sustainable development since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda in 2015, a persistent $2.5 trillion annual financing gap stands in the way of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
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Philanthropy is Shortchanging Climate Change: Here Are Three Ways It Can Boost Its Impact
Climate change is a hot topic in global development, but unfortunately, philanthropy hasn’t followed suit. Despite some notable gifts, climate lags behind other issues when it comes to charitable giving — less than 2% of philanthropic dollars went to climate-related issues in 2015. Nicole Systrom at Sutro Energy Group discusses the reasons for this inertia, and how philanthropists and foundations can turn things around.
- Categories
- Environment, Technology
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Bamboo Capital Exits Accion Microfinance Bank
Bamboo Capital Partners, an impact investing platform, has successfully exited its indirect stake in one of the leading microfinance banks in Nigeria, Accion Microfinance Bank (Accion MfB).
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Learning is an Afterthought at Most Donor-Funded Programs: Here’s How to Make it a Priority
Despite the millions of dollars funders spend on it each year, learning remains a low priority within donor-funded programs. Why? According to Anne Maftei at the Mastercard Foundation Rural & Agricultural Finance Learning Lab, it's because these programs are built for implementation rather than knowledge creation. But while this is understandable, it's not ideal – Maftei explores ways funders can make learning less onerous and more useful for their partner organizations.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
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Press Release: Citi Launches $150 Million Impact Investing Fund
This is the largest fund of its kind to be launched by a bank using its own capital. Investments, which could be as high as $10 million, will primarily be made in companies that have demonstrated proof of concept, built an existing customer base, secured prior rounds of funding and exhibited the potential for scale in multiple markets. A portion of the fund is designated for earlier stage seed investments.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Finance, Investing
- Region
- North America
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‘Green Is Good.’ Is Wall Street’s New Motto Sustainable?
As big institutions go green, it can make for strange bedfellows, like some of Goldstein’s clients who were carried into the Goldman Sachs fold. Among them, a group of Midwestern nuns known as the Franciscan Sisters of Mary, a Roman Catholic group out of St. Louis.
- Categories
- Investing
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BlackRock CEO Says the Climate Crisis Is About to Trigger ‘a Fundamental Reshaping of Finance’
In an annual letter to CEOs published Tuesday, BlackRock chief executive Larry Fink said: “Climate change has become a defining factor in companies’ long-term prospects."
- Categories
- Environment, Investing
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