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Missing the Exit: The Growing Need for New Exit Pathways in Agriculture Investing
Exits make the wheel of impact investing go around, enabling companies to sustain and grow their operations, while also allowing investors to recycle returned capital into other impactful solutions. But as Coco Lim at Acumen explains, right now that wheel is not turning — particularly in agriculture, which has the lowest ratio of exits to deals of any sector in Africa. She argues that this situation puts impact investors at a crossroads: They can stay the course and hope that big exits are around the corner, or they can build the necessary exit pathways themselves. She discusses the challenges of achieving exits in smallholder-focused agriculture, highlighting the limitations of current investing models and exploring some exit strategies that offer untapped opportunities for impact investors and businesses.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Investing
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From Nano to Investable: Why Formalising MSMEs Hasn’t Led to Scale, and What India Can Do About It
India has achieved something remarkable over the past decade: Millions of once-informal micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have been formalized, and it is now easier to start and register a business, and access credit and government programs and markets. But according to Pranshu Chhabra, Rudra Midhun Kumar and Chiropriya Dasgupta at Quiver, over 99% of these enterprises remain at the "micro" level, and the overwhelming majority of them are classified as “nano,” a subset of the lowest level of the MSME classification. They argue that while India has become very good at bringing enterprises into the formal system, it is struggling to help them move into their next stage of growth: becoming large enough to attract formal investment. They explore this challenge, explaining why the transition from nano to investable cannot be solved by capital alone.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- governance, MSMEs, public policy, scale
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Press Release: World Bank Group Launches Initiative to Help Local Financial Institutions Expand Digital Payments in Emerging Markets
". . . the initiative is expected to increase competition and improve the quality and accessibility of payment services."
- Region
- Global
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Africa Ecosystem Catalysts Facility Expands into Nigeria with USD 450K in First Investments
Backing Trade Lenda and AirSmat, Nigerian startups advancing financial inclusion and climate-smart agriculture through fit-for-purpose capital.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise, WASH
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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78% of South African SMBs Encountered Cybersecurity Incidents Over the Past Year, Kaspersky Research Shows
Kaspersky, a global cybersecurity and digital privacy company, surveyed IT security specialists across SMBs and enterprises in 18 countries* to provide insights into the most critical risks facing businesses today.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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CLIC Report: Landscape of Technical Assistance to Agri-SMEs
Via CLIC, "This report maps over 200 organizations providing technical assistance to agri-SMEs across sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean."
- Categories
- Agriculture, Investing
- Region
- Global
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Hijau Raises $10 Million to Scale Distributed Solar Projects Across Indonesia
Founded in 2017, Hijau develops rooftop solar projects mainly for commercial and industrial customers. The company follows a zero-capital-expenditure model, allowing businesses to install and use solar systems without making large upfront investments in equipment.
- Categories
- Energy, Investing, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Nairobi Targets Creators With New Fees as County Expands Digital Tax Net
The sharpest divide is between local and external filmmakers, with foreign productions paying more than six times what local producers pay for a single shoot.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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