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How Should We Measure Impact? We Asked Our Investees.
Ceniarth describes itself as an "impact-first investor," but as senior impact manager Julia Mensink points out, even with its commitment and resources, it has found that there is no simple solution to measuring impact well. She explores what Ceniarth learned by asking all its investees how they measure impact, and shares key insights which may be useful to other investors looking to deepen their impact measurement practices.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing, Social Enterprise, Technology
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Startups and Venture Capital vs. COVID-19: How an INR 1 Billion Grant Program Is Boosting India’s Pandemic Response
India is home to many innovative startups that are leveraging technology to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. To support them, a group of prominent venture capital funds and founders recently launched ACT Grants, an INR 1 billion effort to fund scale-ready solutions to COVID-related challenges. NextBillion spoke with Mekin Maheshwari, founder of Udhyam Learning Foundation – a key partner in the initiative – about how it is helping India’s startups ramp up their battle against the virus.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Health Care, Investing, Technology
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Manufacturing a COVID-19 Recovery: Why Building Local Manufacturing Capacity Is Key To Africa’s Pandemic Response
COVID-19 is taking a heavy toll on sub-Saharan Africa's economies. And as Salma Okonkwo at Blue Power Energy Ltd. points out, the region is particularly vulnerable because it relies on international imports and exports for much of its GDP. She proposes an effective way to help Africa recover from the pandemic and build resilience to future shocks: developing local manufacturing.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Energy
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Bringing Refugee Camps Out of the Dark: An Entrepreneur-Driven Solution To Clean Energy for the World’s Most Vulnerable Communities
There are almost 80 million forcibly displaced people worldwide – and among refugees living in rural settlements, 90% have very limited access to electricity. Sofia Ollvid at SolarAid discusses its innovative collaboration in Malawi's Dzaleka refugee camp, which mobilizes the support of refugee entrepreneurs to bring solar lighting to a population that's been living in the dark.
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- Energy, Social Enterprise
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‘Our Only Competition Is Poverty’: How Avanti Finance Aims To Create a ‘Population-Scale’ Digital Microfinance Platform in India
India has long been a hotbed of digital financial innovation. Avanti Finance is an emerging innovator in the sector, with a digital lending platform that aims to bring affordable microfinance to even the poorest customers. NextBillion spoke with CEO Rahul Gupta to discuss Avanti’s unique model, and the challenges of serving low-income customers both efficiently and responsibly.
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- Finance, Technology
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Addressing the Weak Link in COVID-19 Relief: How Improving Strategic Communications Can Boost the Impact of Social Protection Programs
In response to COVID-19, 212 countries have planned or implemented more than 1,100 social protection programs to help over 1.8 billion people. But as Arshi Aadil and Abhishek Jain at MicroSave (MSC) point out, many intended recipients don’t know about the benefits they're eligible for, or how to access these funds. They explore how governments and program administrators can improve their communication and outreach.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Impact Assessment
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Avoiding Information Overload: Four Lessons From a Performance Manager on How To Use Data To Drive Development Outcomes
Development impact bonds (DIBs) are a popular way to drive successful social outcomes – but assessing a program's effectiveness requires a lot of data. Dayoung Lee and Dia Banerjee at Dalberg Advisors share lessons they've learned from managing the performance of the world’s largest education DIB, showing how data can improve outcomes without causing undue burdens on the organizations that should be benefiting from it.
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- Education, Investing, Technology
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From Financial Inclusion To Inclusive Finance: The Power of Frameworks To Catalyse Change
In this age of information, we increasingly rely on data to inform our decisions. But as Amrik Heyer at FSD Kenya points out, the utility of data for guiding policy and investment depends on the paradigms and frameworks which influence our thinking. She discusses the power of frameworks in shaping research and informing financial inclusion policy and investment, using the example of the FinAccess survey in Kenya.
- Categories
- Finance, Investing, Technology
