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Designing an Impact Measurement Strategy: What’s Your North Star?
As impact investing evolves, there are a growing number of impact measurement solutions available to investors and the ecosystem at large. But as Shruti Goel at Upaya Social Ventures and Sachi Shenoy at Calidris explain, the deluge of impact measurement data, frameworks and methods can be confusing. They share some key lessons Upaya has learned in its 11 years of supporting impactful entrepreneurs, and explore how investors can develop a robust measurement strategy that helps them understand the breadth and depth of their impact.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing, Social Enterprise
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Why Credit is Key to Unlocking Africa’s Consumer Markets and Boosting Economic Growth
Africa’s consumer market is one of the fastest-growing in the world. But as Fehintolu Olaogun at CredPal points out, this growth has primarily occurred without consumer credit, as most sub-Saharan African economies remain cash-driven at the retail level. He explains why African markets need the kind of organized credit systems that are enjoyed by consumers in more developed markets, and explores the impact that credit access can have on e-commerce, informal commerce and overall economic growth in the region.
- Categories
- Finance, Telecommunications
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Climate-Resilient Architecture: The Key to Combating Heat Stress in India
Global warming has increased the intensity of heat waves over the last few decades. And in India and other emerging countries, extreme heat is a particularly serious problem, as only 8% of the 2.8 billion people living in the world’s hottest regions have air conditioners. But according to Krati Airan and Rohang Mishal at Villgro Innovations Foundation, the problem won't be solved by simply expanding access to air conditioning, which is expensive and energy-intensive. They explore the impact of climate-resistant architecture in addressing heat stress in the world’s hottest – and most economically vulnerable – countries.
- Categories
- Environment
- Tags
- climate change, housing, recycling
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Nora’s Digitalization Challenges: What the MSE Sector Can Learn From the Digital Journey of a Woman Entrepreneur in Peru
Women entrepreneurs are a driving force for digitalization, showing less resistance and a higher level of trust toward digital business tools than their male counterparts. Gianmarco Cheng and Juan Navarrete at Fundación Capital share some key initial results from an ongoing study in Colombia, Mexico and Peru, which highlight ways to promote the adoption and use of digital tools by micro and small enterprises (MSEs). They discuss the impact these tools have had on Nora, a microentrepreneur in Peru, and explore the challenges and opportunities presented by digitalization efforts across the MSE sector.
- Categories
- Technology
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Augmented Reality for Financial Literacy: An Innovative Approach to Delivering Immersive Customer Education
India's Business Correspondents – i.e., retail agents engaged by banks to provide financial services at locations other than a bank branch – often struggle to learn about the new products and services their banks offer. And though online training has become the new normal during the pandemic, many of these agents find it difficult to complete. Piyush Singh and Rahul Ranjan Sinha at Grameen Foundation India discuss the value of augmented reality in addressing this challenge – and in enhancing online financial education more broadly for underserved customers.
- Categories
- Education, Finance, Technology
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From Impact Investing to ‘Impact-First’ Investing: Seven Ways Investors Can Take a Holistic Lifecycle Approach to Impact
Impact investing is playing a growing role in addressing many complex societal problems. But as Varad Pande and Twinkle Malhan at Omidyar Network India point out, one of the critiques of the sector is that its approach to impact is not holistic – i.e., many investors' focus on impact stops after a fund's strategy has been set and its deals have been vetted. To address this issue, they propose a more holistic approach to creating impact across the lifecycle of each investment – from sourcing higher-impact deals, to supporting investees' efforts to sustain and increase their impact.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
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Creating New Pathways in Retail to Support Persons with Disabilities in India
In many countries, the retail, hospitality and services sector is a great source of employment for people with disabilities. Yet in India, which has one of the largest retail sectors globally, current working conditions within this industry are often unwelcoming for disabled people. B.S. Nagesh at Trust for Retailers and Retail Associates of India (TRRAIN), Celia Sanchez-Valladares Barahona at Ashoka Nordics, and Kristina Humphreys explore how TRRAIN is working to create employment opportunities for people with disabilities in India’s retail sector at an industry-wide scale.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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Why Social Enterprises Struggle to Measure Impact – And What Impact Investors Can Do About It
Impact investors typically rely on output measurements, such as total capital invested or number of people served, to assess their impact. But it's harder for investors and their investees to sustainably capture outcome data that assesses actual improvements in customers' lives. Spencer MacColl at Kiva shares data from Kiva's annual impact measurement survey, which reflects the current measurement practices and challenges of the microfinance institutions and other social enterprises Kiva supports. He explores the lessons these findings offer to impact investors and others who are working to design more effective measurement practices.
- Categories
- Finance, Impact Assessment, Investing, Social Enterprise
