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Proparco Makes $15 Million Debt Investment In Indian Microlender
Svatantra provides micro loans to rural women entrepreneurs who run small businesses.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Do Formal Savings Accounts Lead to Better Results for Low-Income Users?: Lessons from Two Customer-Centric Research Studies in Africa
The Savings Learning Lab was a six-year initiative that supported learning among Mastercard Foundation’s savings-focused financial inclusion programs across Africa. Program partners Savings at the Frontier and Scale2Save employed two different research approaches to better understand the impact of formal savings accounts on the lives of low-income people. Jenny Morgan at FinEquity discusses these approaches and the insights they generated, which went beyond access and usage to reveal the nuances of clients' savings preferences and behaviors.
- Categories
- Finance
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ANT Gets Asia’s Biggest ESG-Linked Loan in US $6.5 Billion Deal
ANT Group converted a syndicated credit facility into a US$6.5 billion sustainability-linked loan last year, the largest of its kind in Asia-Pacific.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- ESG, fintech, governance, lending
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African Development Bank’s AFAWA Hits $1 Billion Investment Milestone in Lending to Women Entrepreneurs in Africa
This is yet another milestone for the bank following a historic summit last week to tackle the escalating challenges of food security in Africa.
- Categories
- Agriculture
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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South African Digital Lender Lulalend to Launch Banking Product Off the Back of $35 Million Series B
The digital lender, launched in 2014, has raised $35 million in a Series B round led by international impact investor Lightrock, with participation from new investors.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Kenya: KFW Lends €20 Million for Water and Sanitation in Kericho and Kisii
The loan will be used to finance the expansion of water supply and sanitation systems in Kericho and Kisii counties in Kenya.
- Categories
- WASH
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- lending, sanitation, water
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From Grameen Bank to Global Scale: The New Edition of a Classic Book Highlights the Hard Truth – And Enduring Value – Behind Microfinance
In 1996, Grameen Foundation founder Alex Counts published “Small Loans, Big Dreams,” a well-regarded account of the origins and early years of the microfinance sector. Counts recently published a new edition of the book, which reflects on the ongoing evolution of the industry, and responds to critics who have questioned its role in international development. Longtime microfinance leader and analyst Elisabeth Rhyne discusses the book, and explores what these new updates tell us about the current state of the global microfinance sector.
- Categories
- Finance
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Rockefeller, Gates, OSF Launch Fund to Spur Multilateral Development Bank Lending to Low- and Middle-Income Countries
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Open Society Foundations, and The Rockefeller Foundation launched a new $5 million grant fund to spur reforms in multilateral development banks.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Global