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Task force on digital financing of UN SDGs launched
“We have already seen how technology has helped expand financial inclusion — itself an important goal — by 1.2 billion people in just six years,” said Guterres.
- Categories
- Finance
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Power Problem in a Changing Climate: The Renewable Energy Movement is Shortchanging Women and the Poor
What happens when a movement that aims to correct a global power imbalance develops an imbalance of its own? That’s the question facing renewable energy, says Solar Sister co-founder Neha Misra – a sector dominated by “largely white, often male, founder companies with Western expatriate leadership,” in which organizations with a social focus are sidelined by investors seeking quick profits. Misra discusses these and other uncomfortable truths – and why the movement must address them.
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- Energy, Social Enterprise
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Homegrown, African-Owned: A New Approach to Building Africa’s Off-Grid Energy Industry
How can Africa achieve universal access to electricity – and what role should social business and investing play? These questions remain controversial, as investors flood the off-grid solar space, while a small number of enterprises struggle to use that capital to expand beyond their core markets. According to Dan Murphy at Catalyst Off-Grid Advisors and Andreas Zeller at Open Capital Advisors, there’s a critical “missing link” where the industry should focus to reach the region’s 120 million underserved households. And there are thousands of African entrepreneurs who can lead the way – with the right kind of support from investors.
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- Energy
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Mobile Industry Reports Increasing Impact Across all SDGs
The ‘2018 Mobile Industry Impact Report: Sustainable Development Goals’ from GSMA Intelligence finds that more than two-thirds of the global population are now connected to mobile technology.
- Categories
- Technology
- Tags
- fintech, global development, SDGs
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A Roadmap to Food Security: Linking Geodata with Financial Inclusion to Support Smallholders
Smallholder farmers produce a staggering 70 percent of the world’s food, making them essential to food security. Geodata applications have been shown to improve these farmers’ yields and even boost their financial access – one of the main obstacles to increasing production. To help tap into these benefits, NpM’s Innovator’s Challenge brought together 17 tech companies with geodata-based solutions for smallholder financial inclusion. NpM director Josien Sluijs discusses the winning companies, and the broader potential of geodata-based innovation.
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- Agriculture, Finance, Social Enterprise, Technology
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First GSMA Mobile Money Certification Achieved in Latin America
"We are honoured to receive this certification, after 10 years working to promote financial inclusion, transforming lives and deploying digital highways for millions of Paraguayans, who already are beginning to enjoy the new digital economy,” said Ramiro Pascual, CEO of Tigo Paraguay.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Latin America
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Press release: Visionary solutions to the Sustainable Development Goals’ funding gap from UNEP FI’s Positive Impact Initiative
This could be game-changing: by making it cheaper to deliver sustainability outcomes, less risky to finance and would stimulate the private sector to create new business solutions that focus on positive impacts.
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How SDG business strategies are already generating $233bn in revenue
According to the Business & Sustainable Development Commission, achieving the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) could open up $12tr of market opportunities in food and agriculture, cities, energy and materials, and health and well-being alone, creating 380 million new jobs by 2030 in the process.