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OPEC Fund Provides $50 Million Loan to Vietnam’s SeABank for Small Business and Climate Financing
In a statement on Monday, SeABank said the loan can help it increase lending to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, which account for around half of employment in Vietnam but continue to face a significant financing gap.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- South Asia
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Press Release: Catalyst Fund Deepens Bet on Africa’s Climate Resilience Founders
Catalyst Fund, the pan-African venture fund and venture builder backing founders from pre-seed to Series A, has announced the completion of its second close, with total commitments now reaching $30 million.
- Categories
- Environment, Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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ADB, HDBank Sign $100 Million Loan to Expand Access to Finance for MSMEs, Women-Owned Businesses in Viet Nam
The financing will support HDBank’s medium- to long-term lending, with at least 40% of ADB’s financing directed to WMSMEs to provide more opportunities for women business owners. Proceeds will be on-lent to eligible MSMEs in line with HDBank’s sustainable finance framework, expanding support for underserved segments.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- South Asia
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British International Investment and Laxmi Sunrise Bank Partner to Unlock Finance for Nepal’s Small Businesses and Women Entrepreneurs
By providing long-term capital to underserved businesses, the partnership is expected to support jobs, entrepreneurship and the growth of a more inclusive private sector across Nepal.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Analysis: A Nigerian Teen Is Turning Agricultural Waste Into Biodegradable Sanitary Pads
Auwal-Panti’s project was selected in a shortlist of 35 global teams for the 2026 Earth Prize, organized by the Earth Foundation, a Switzerland-based nonprofit that empowers, educates and inspires young people to tackle environmental challenges.
- Categories
- Agriculture, WASH
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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inDrive Backs Aurora Ventures to Fund Emerging Market Female Tech Founders
Aurora Ventures is structured to capitalize on a persistent market inefficiency identified over five years of managing the Aurora Tech Award.
- Categories
- Investing, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Moving Forward in a Post-USAID World: Why Women Must Be at the Center of Financial Inclusion
The demise of USAID has profound implications for the movement toward gender equality in financial inclusion and other development priorities. According to Julia Arnold and Sara Seavey, consultants specializing in women’s financial inclusion, the agency played a central role in funding, researching and coordinating global gender equality work — and without that anchor, these efforts are at risk of fragmentation and regression. They argue that this moment places responsibility on the sector itself to preserve the values, evidence and accountability structures that made progress toward gender-inclusive finance possible.
- Categories
- Finance
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How to Support Rural Social Enterprises: Three Key Learnings from a Field Visit in Malaysia
While global media coverage of the social enterprise sector often focuses on countries like India and Kenya, Malaysia remains relatively underrepresented in these conversations. Yet as Sreevas Sahasranamam at the University of Glasgow explains, the country has developed rich models of social innovation deeply rooted in indigenous knowledge systems, ecological stewardship and local resilience. He shares three key learnings from five community-led ventures, each of which demonstrates how practitioners and policymakers can best support rural social enterprises — not only in Malaysia, but globally.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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