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SIDBI and Shell Foundation Launch US $3.1 Million Initiative to Expand Access to Green Finance for Nano-Entrepreneurs
Backed by a $3.1 million grant from Shell Foundation, the EN-Trans RSF provides a second-loss risk coverage to Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs), including SIDBI as a lender, for loans extended to low-income communities.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Drip Capital Surpasses $9 Billion in Trade Transactions as SMBs Navigate Shifting Global Supply Chains
SMBs continue to face a substantial working capital gap, with traditional banks pulling back on small business lending and alternative lenders increasingly unable to meet the scale or speed that global trade requires.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
- Region
- Global
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Press Release: Ant International, IFC, GCash Pioneer First-Of-Its-Kind Sustainability Impact Scorecard to Expand MSME Access to Sustainable Financing
The Scorecard provides Filipino MSMEs with trusted, clear, and accessible pathways to measure sustainability performance, strengthen credibility, and unlock opportunities aligned with global environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards.
- Categories
- Environment, Investing
- Region
- South Asia
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Viewpoint: Impact Investing’s New Discipline
Impact investors are not asking for less impact — they are asking for more discipline. Drawing on conversations with investors across Miller Center’s network, Brigit Helms explores why execution, unit economics, additionality, and impact-revenue alignment are becoming central to the next phase of social enterprise finance.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Social Enterprise
- Region
- Global
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Getting the Most out of Monitoring Data: An Impact Investor Explores the Value of a Unified Approach
Monitoring data is a source of frustration for many impact-focused organizations, as many see it as another line item in their budgets, a task required for funder compliance, or a backward-looking tool that isn’t necessarily relevant to future programming. But as Juan Taborda Burgos, Scott Caple and Jorge Bouchot at Root Capital argue, this paradigm fails to recognize the power of monitoring data to inform strategy and insights. They explore how Root Capital has standardized its monitoring system across its global programs, and highlight the value of taking a unified approach to collecting and utilizing this data.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Investing
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BOI and GIZ Sign Strategic Partnership to Accelerate MSME Growth and Sustainable Development in Nigeria
The framework outlines an agreement focused on delivering coordinated interventions across key areas, including access to finance, entrepreneurship development, capacity building, and market access.
- Source
- Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH (link opens in a new window)
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Google and UpSkill Universe Relaunch Hustle Academy to Bring Free AI Skills to All Africans
The 2026 edition is built for anyone in Sub-Saharan Africa, including employees, students, and jobseekers, who wants to use AI to advance their career.
- Categories
- Education, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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The Missing Ingredient in Impact Investment in Africa: A New Financing Model for Business Advisory Service Providers Tackles the ’Lack of Investable Pipeline’ Challenge
Despite the growth of impact investing in Africa, investors still face a commonly cited constraint that could impede future deal flow: the lack of investable pipeline. But according to John Scicchitano at Pangea Africa and Rob Mills at Social Finance International, the main reason for this issue is the fact that African small and medium enterprises (SMEs) often struggle to meet the technical standards that impact investors demand, while lacking the network that could connect them to these investors. They explore how business advisory service providers (BASPs) can help meet these needs for SMEs, and present a new financing mechanism that can help BASPs scale up their investment facilitation support.
- Categories
- Investing
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