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October 23, 2023

Overcoming Barriers to Impact Investment in Africa: Interviews with Fund Managers Reveal Three Promising Solutions to the Continent’s Funding Gap

African-based investment fund managers face an uphill battle to secure the capital they need to invest in home-grown enterprises, particularly when social impact is a key part of their investment strategies. Bernard Chidzero, Nkanyiso Hlongwa and Serena Fu at The Bridgespan Group share highlights from a recent report based on interviews with 25 stakeholders in the continent's impact investing sector, which reveal the obstacles faced by African fund managers — and some potential solutions.

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October 19, 2023

Agricultural Insurance + Energy Access: An Innovative Pilot Program Reveals the Value of Bundled Services — And the Need for Cross-Sector Partnerships

As the world works to achieve SDG7, it's becoming clear that cross-sector partnerships will be key to meeting its goal of affordable, sustainable energy for all by 2030. Anshul Patel at Bboxx — a leading distributor of pay-as-you-go solar energy products — shares learnings from the company's recent partnership with Pula, an agri-insurance technology firm, which insured Bboxx customers against the climate-related crop failures that can lead to payment defaults and repossession of their energy products.

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Conflict & Development at Texas A&M / https://flic.kr/p/TbsMHh

October 17, 2023

What’s the Most Efficient Way to Deploy Mini-Grid Distribution Infrastructure?: A Study Assesses Different Approaches — And Finds a Clear Winner

Mini-grids have emerged as a viable technology to accelerate energy access in sub-Saharan Africa, but if they hope to become commercially sustainable, their profitability and distribution infrastructure must improve. Tombo Banda, Charles Sweetland and Faisal Olanipekun at CrossBoundary share the preliminary results of a Mini-Grid Innovation Lab study that explores the most efficient ways to deploy a distribution grid, highlighting the benefits and challenges of different approaches.

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October 12, 2023

A $200 Billion Opportunity: What Payment Data Shows About the Rise of Africa’s Digital Economy

Africa’s digital economy is growing rapidly, and according to Agosta Liko at Pesapal, businesses, financial institutions and governments could add US $200 billion to the continent’s GDP in the next six years by supporting that growth. He shares payment data that highlights how, and where, digital transactions are happening in Africa — both online and in person — and explores what that means for the digital economy’s growth prospects in the region.

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October 9, 2023

In Pursuit of a Cashless Africa: Learning from Nigeria’s Struggle to Accelerate its Transition to Digital Finance

The use of cash for payments is dwindling globally, while the electronic payments industry is burgeoning. As Osahon Akpata at Ecobank points out, this growth is also happening in Africa, though cash still remains king. He highlights several factors that are driving both the growth of digital finance and the ongoing usage of cash on the continent, exploring how African countries can accelerate their transition to a cashless economy — and what they can learn from Nigeria's struggles in that area.

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October 6, 2023

Does Universal Basic Income Really Work? Understanding the Early Findings from the World’s Largest UBI Experiment, and Their Implications for Financial Resilience

While the concept of Universal Basic Income (UBI) as a poverty solution has been widely debated, there has been limited evidence of its effectiveness. But as Tavneet Suri at MIT and Stella Klemperer at Flourish Ventures explain, that's beginning to change. They share early results from a 12-year randomized control trial exploring the long-term impact of UBI on 23,000 people in 195 villages in rural Kenya — the largest and longest UBI experiment to-date. The findings offer compelling evidence of UBI's impact on financial resilience, and can help inform the design of other UBI and cash transfer programs.

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Finance

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October 4, 2023

Wrap-Around Services Are Changing the Face of Microfinance – For the Better: New Research Shows the Impact of Going Beyond Credit

While loans have always been at the heart of microfinance, credit alone is often not enough to create meaningful impact. To address this, many providers offer additional wrap-around services — from training and health support to savings, insurance and payment solutions — aimed at increasing the impact of their loans. Devin Olmack at 60 Decibels shares findings from 60 Decibels' 2023 Microfinance Index, based on conversations with over 32,000 borrowers across 32 countries, that show the increasing need for a spectrum of services that go beyond microcredit.

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Finance

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October 2, 2023

Understanding Digital Public Infrastructure: What it Means — and Why it Matters — to Businesses and Governments in Emerging Markets

In recent months, there has been an outpouring of media coverage and analysis on the topic of digital public infrastructure (DPI). David Porteous, Priya Vora, Ravi Shankar Chaturvedi and Peter Rabley explore the ongoing efforts to develop a shared understanding of what DPI means, and how it can impact global digital development. They urge DPI stakeholders to look beyond narrow, government-centered use cases and existing digital systems to envision next-generation applications based on public and private sector collaboration.

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NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Guest Articles.

Agricultural Insurance + Energy Access: An Innovative Pilot Program Reveals the Value of Bundled Services — And the Need for Cross-Sector Partnerships

What’s the Most Efficient Way to Deploy Mini-Grid Distribution Infrastructure?: A Study Assesses Different Approaches — And Finds a Clear Winner

A $200 Billion Opportunity: What Payment Data Shows About the Rise of Africa’s Digital Economy

In Pursuit of a Cashless Africa: Learning from Nigeria’s Struggle to Accelerate its Transition to Digital Finance

Does Universal Basic Income Really Work? Understanding the Early Findings from the World’s Largest UBI Experiment, and Their Implications for Financial Resilience

Wrap-Around Services Are Changing the Face of Microfinance – For the Better: New Research Shows the Impact of Going Beyond Credit

Understanding Digital Public Infrastructure: What it Means — and Why it Matters — to Businesses and Governments in Emerging Markets

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