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The Global Aid Industry is Repeating the Mistakes that Caused the 2008 Financial Crisis: A Warning from a Former Leader at Lehman Brothers
In 2008, the failure of a single institution, Lehman Brothers, triggered a global financial crisis — not because of Lehman alone, but because of the unseen interdependencies that held the world’s financial system together. According to David Davies at AgUnity, a leader at Lehman Brothers during the 2008 crisis, America is in the process of making the same catastrophic mistake in global aid. He explains why the collapse of USAID threatens to bring down the deeply interconnected global aid system, impacting hundreds of millions of people — and urges private foundations, philanthropists and impact investors to step up.
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ARE & REIAMA Partner to Boost Decentralised Renewable Energy in Malawi
This partnership is designed to address policy and regulatory challenges, strengthen capacity building, support private sector development, and advocate for policies that drive energy access, energy security, and climate action.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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The Success of Climate Health Initiatives Depends on Buy-in From Government Leaders
IFC's interview with Estelle Willie at The Rockefeller Foundation explores building resilient health systems through a climate lens.
- Categories
- Environment, Health Care
- Region
- Global
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Making Mini-Grids Work for Everyone: A Tariff Harmonization Pilot in Sierra Leone Reveals the Benefits and Challenges of Lowering Prices
Solar mini-grids offer a promising solution to energy poverty in Africa. But according to Tombo Banda and Lisa Kahuthu at CrossBoundary and Miriam Atuya, this approach has yet to gain sufficient traction, due in part to the challenge of balancing operational sustainability with affordability. If customer tariffs are set too low, operators lack revenue — but if prices are set too high, mini-grid electricity isn’t accessible enough to drive widespread adoption. They share the results of a pilot program in Sierra Leone that tested the impact of lower prices on mini-grid operators and their customers, highlighting the implications for future efforts to implement tariff reduction at scale.
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Viewpoint: Smart Gamble or Foolish Risk? The Case for and Against Nuclear in Africa
Nuclear energy is low carbon, high intensity and consistent, but also expensive, hazardous, and perhaps simply unnecessary.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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U.S. Department of the Treasury Releases Inaugural National Strategy for Financial Inclusion
This Strategy is intended to promote an inclusive financial system that works to reduce rather than increase disparities.
- Region
- North America
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Rwanda to Halt Registration of Petrol Motor-Cycles in 2025
The Ministry of Infrastructure confirmed this policy as part of its push for cleaner, greener transportation options.
- Categories
- Transportation
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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An Emerging Priority in Climate Resilience: How Zambia’s Green Growth Strategy — And its Business Sector — Are Addressing the Risk of Climate-Induced Social Instability
Zambia — like other countries across Southern Africa — is confronting its worst drought in four decades, one of multiple climate-related crises it faces. According to Gracsious Maviza and Giulia Caroli at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, and Ibukun Taiwo at CGIAR, these issues are putting a growing strain on the nation’s social fabric. They explore how Zambia's National Green Growth Strategy is addressing these challenges, highlighting four "Climate Security Pathways" in the strategy that can improve social stability — and generate immense opportunities for the private sector.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Environment, WASH
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