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SME Growth Lab Partners with Shecluded to Empower African Female Entrepreneurs
As part of the 2023 IWD, SME Growth Lab Africa and Shecluded launched an only-female accelerator to provide a ₦1 million shared grant to five African entrepreneurs.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Visa Foundation Commits $5 Million to Support Women Entrepreneurs in Africa
Visa Foundation says it expects to contribute $5 million in grants and impact investments in Africa that will support women’s participation in the digital economy.
- Categories
- Investing, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Press Release: A $7 Million Gift from MacKenzie Scott Will Help Village Enterprise End Extreme Poverty for 20 Million People in Africa
As Women’s History Month comes to a close, Village Enterprise is thrilled to announce a gift of $7 million from MacKenzie Scott.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Environment, Health Care, Technology
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African Development Bank Decries Inadequate Funding for Female Entrepreneurs With $42 Billion Financing Gap in Africa
The AfDB President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina made the call during Access Bank’s International Women’s Day Conference held in Lagos, Investors King reports.
- Categories
- Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Outgrowing the Flower Pot: Why Just Selling Productive Equipment to Smallholder Farmers is Not Enough
A new wave of companies are bringing equipment powered by renewable, decentralized energy to smallholders, and these devices can significantly boost farmers' yields and product quality. But as Daniel Waldron, Christopher Emmott, Priyanka Dudeja, Paraag Sabhlok and Chris Wayne at Acumen explain, just like a tree growing in a flower pot, this new growth can become a burden if it has nowhere to go. They argue that productive equipment must be combined with market access interventions to truly benefit smallholders, and highlight two innovative companies that are demonstrating the impact of this approach.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Investing, Social Enterprise, Technology
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Bringing Agricultural Insurance to Climate-Vulnerable Farmers: A Unique Pilot Program in Nepal Shows How to Unlock the Benefits of Index-Based Insurance for Smallholders
Nepal's topography and climatic conditions make it uniquely prone to natural disasters. As Maria Perdomo at UNCDF explains, these disasters threaten the country's economic development, and smallholder farmers and rural women are disproportionately affected. She discusses a UNCDF pilot program that brought agricultural insurance coverage to Nepali smallholders, and shares learnings from the program that could inform efforts to deliver insurance to farmers in other climate-vulnerable countries in Asia and beyond.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Environment, Finance
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Proparco Makes $15 Million Debt Investment In Indian Microlender
Svatantra provides micro loans to rural women entrepreneurs who run small businesses.
- Categories
- Finance
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Empowering Women to Fight Climate Change: A Program in Zambia Shows How Smallholder Farmers Can Lead the Way
Southern Africa has faced persistent drought, erratic rainfall and other consequences of climate change. And as Simon Crittle at International Development Enterprises (iDE) explains, women are disproportionately impacted by these challenges. He discusses an iDE program that trains farmers in Zambia to sell climate-smart agricultural inputs and services to their fellow smallholders — an initiative that it demonstrates the impact market-based interventions can have in preparing women farmers to play a leading role in addressing the climate crisis.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Environment