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The Teacher-Researcher Divide: How Can Educators in Emerging Markets Make Better Use of Data?
Despite an explosion of high-quality research into K-12 learning outcomes in emerging markets, the data from those studies can be hard to interpret, leading educators to defer to their own experience and/or that of their peers instead. As a result, the best evidence on methods and strategies often goes unused by teachers. Sean Geraghty of the private school operator Bridge International Academies considers a recent partnership with the Liberian government and asks: How can educators truly incorporate the latest research into their lessons?
- Categories
- Education, Impact Assessment
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Why Do Low-income Women Entrepreneurs Fail? New Research Provides Some Answers
Everybody loves a business success story, so research on entrepreneurship tends to focus on the Facebooks and Ubers of the world. But in reality, new ventures are more likely to fail than to succeed, and there's a dearth of research on the reasons why – particularly when the entrepreneurs are women in emerging markets. The Failure Institute joined with Pro Mujer to study the failures of hundreds of small businesses run by low-income women in Mexico. Leticia Gasca of the Failure Institute explores the four main causes of failure these women faced.
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- Impact Assessment
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Closing the Gap: Identifying Key Challenges for the Missing Middle SMEs in Francophone West Africa
Many small and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries fall into the “missing middle”: They're too big for microfinance and too small or risky for traditional finance. To better understand this sector and how to support it, the Dutch Good Growth Fund (DGGF) commissioned studies on the entrepreneurial ecosystems of Benin, Cote D’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Senegal and Togo. WDI's Ekta Jhaveri discusses the research with Julia Kho, knowledge manager at TripleJump, an investment management and advisory services firm that manages DGGF’s Investment Funds Local SMEs effort.
- Categories
- Investing
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What’s Ailing Sri Lanka’s Microfinance Industry – And Could Fintech Provide a Solution?
In Sri Lanka, microfinance interest rates can be as high as 72 percent – outpacing even loan sharks, whose rates average around 40 percent. This often traps clients in severe debt and perpetuates cycles of poverty – while MFIs themselves often enjoy high profits, low expenses and lack of competitive pressure. Suthaharan Perampalam and Mithula Guganeshan of Sparkwinn explore the potential of fintech (and better regulations) in changing this dynamic.
- Categories
- Finance, Impact Assessment
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The ‘Strange Bedfellows’ Myth: How Fintechs and Financial Institutions Can Partner for Mutual Benefit – And Greater Financial Inclusion
The classic tech-meets-tradition narrative often portrays fintechs and established financial institutions as natural adversaries. But research from the Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI) and the Institute of International Finance found quite the opposite to be true. CFI's Sonja E. Kelly explores the report's findings, which detail the surprising scope for collaboration among these players – and the potential impact on low-income customers.
- Categories
- Finance, Impact Assessment
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New Paper: Key Considerations for Mobilizing Institutional Capital Through Blended Finance
The new report from Convergence provides an analysis of the investment motivations, requirements, and constraints of six segments of institutional investors.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- impact investing, research
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How to Address the Power Imbalance in Impact Investing? Shut Up and Listen
It started with a USD 22 million investment in a farm in Ghana’s Afram Plains District. The investment was designed to reduce hunger, create jobs and provide economic opportunities for 80,000 smallholder farmers. That's not how it turned out. Gayle Peterson of Oxford's Impact Investing Programme and her colleagues explore a real-world case of impact investing gone wrong.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Tags
- impact investing, research
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What was the Most Influential NextBillion Post of 2017? Vote for Your Favorite
“Fast away the old year passes.” That lyric from “Deck the Halls” always hits home this time of year – and in 2017, it resonates particularly strongly. Across the social sectors, the year often felt like a race against time (or against competing societal forces) and many of our most popular posts reflect that sense of urgency. Here are the most influential posts from the last twelve months, one from each month, in our sixth annual holiday contest. Vote early, vote often.