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Press Release: MCE Social Capital Receives $3.7 Million Grant
Capital infusion will fund more loans to small and growing businesses in rural Africa and other emerging markets, and serve as a match to attract new guarantors.
- Categories
- Investing
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Viewpoint: Nigeria Needs to Close the Financial Inclusion Gap for Women Smallholder Farmers
Women smallholder farmers in Nigeria are involved in all aspects of agriculture. Yet, because they are women, they are held back by unequal access to resources that would help them become more successful.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Expanding Impact and Emerging Risks in Off-Grid Energy: 10 Customer Insights – And Five Calls to Action
Social impact measurement is often a balancing act between generating rich, meaningful insights – and getting lost in the details. 60 Decibels aims to strike that balance with its first impact performance report, “Why Off Grid Energy Matters,” based on over 35,000 interviews with customers of 49 off-grid energy companies in 17 countries. Kat Harrison and Sasha Dichter explore some highlights, ranging from hyper-specific insights on customer impact, to sector-wide risks and gaps.
- Categories
- Energy, Impact Assessment
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What Is Preventing the Adoption of Renewable Energy in Rural India, and How to Fix It?
In the hinterland, poor power quality continues to affect service delivery organisations in the health, education, and livelihood sectors.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- South Asia
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Press Release: Microfinance Provider Esperanza Selects EdApp to Help Educate in the Dominican Republic
Esperanza, in partnership with MoveUp, has announced the deployment of EdApp to transform the way their not-for-profit organisation workforce engages in business training and social support.
- Categories
- Education
- Region
- Latin America
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Booster Teams to Breach the Rural Frontier of Digital Financial Services (DFS) in Uganda
In the context of rural digital finance, the concept of a “booster team” is a dedicated team that supports one or several organizations to distribute their products and services to the last mile population.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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China Looks to Robots, Big Data to Drive Agriculture Forward
The “Digital Agriculture and Rural Area Development Plan 2019-2025” acknowledges (in Chinese) that data resources are scattered and coverage rates remain low. But top Party agencies are serious about the digitalizing the countryside and building 5G networks in these areas.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Technology
- Tags
- agtech, rural development
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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