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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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Ecobank, Proparco Partner to Mobilise €300 Million for Agriculture, Women-Led Businesses in Africa
Under the arrangement, Proparco Groupe AFD will provide financial instruments, including partial portfolio guarantees, co-financing, and trade finance support, to help Ecobank Group increase lending to agricultural small and medium-sized enterprises across 33 African countries.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Shell Foundation, Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship, and Amazon India Announces New Programme to Empower Women Micro Entrepreneurs through Market Connect and Clean Energy Access
his collaboration addresses these challenges by connecting women-led businesses to new customers through Amazon’s Saheli program, which offers lower selling fees and specialized support, including account management and training.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Education, Social Enterprise
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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GAFSP Announces $38 Million in Grants to Support Smallholder Farmers Across Africa, Asia, and the Americas
The latest allocation by GAFSP places a strong emphasis on strengthening the capacities and financial sustainability of producer organizations, while scaling up tested innovations for smallholder agriculture.
- Categories
- Agriculture
- Region
- Global
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Shell Foundation and Startup Discovery School Launch the West Africa Aggregator Service Platform to Boost the Incomes of Women Smallholder Farmers
It will test service-based, shared and layaway delivery models designed to reduce upfront costs, distribute risk and make proven agricultural technologies viable for women farmers.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Education, Environment
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Three Questions for Five African Businesses: Insights from Sankalp Africa Summit’s ‘Enterprise Showcase’
The recent Sankalp Africa Summit featured an “Enterprise Showcase” where up-and-coming African businesses shared information about their work and missions. NextBillion interviewed five of these entrepreneurs and company representatives, asking each of them three questions: What are the main challenges you’re facing in running your business? What kind of support would help you overcome these challenges? And what’s one thing you wish funders understood about your business needs? Their responses reveal some of the innovative approaches and key issues that are emerging in Africa’s vibrant ecosystem of small and medium-sized enterprises.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Environment, Social Enterprise, Transportation, WASH
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Research: A Plan to Maneuver Female Leadership in Ghana’s Renewable Energy Sector
The country is experience a profound paper-to-practice divide with agencies operating in silos and treating gender as a tangential social issue rather than core economic requirement.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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