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Survival, Recovery and Resilience: 12 Recommendations to Help Financial Institutions Weather the COVID-19 Crisis
COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on the 300 million-plus enterprises operating in emerging economies around the world. It has also harmed their financial institutions, which are dealing with poor asset quality, liquidity pressure and reduced profitability as clients struggle to repay loans. Analysts at MicroSave Consulting (MSC) share 12 recommendations to help these institutions survive and recover in the wake of the pandemic.
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- Coronavirus, Finance
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Tackling the COVID-19 Hunger Crisis in Africa: How Digital Networks Can Empower Small Farmers and Avert a Looming Disaster
COVID-19 is bringing even wealthy nations to their knees, but it’s dealing the deadliest blow to the world’s most vulnerable people – including smallholder farmers in Africa. And as Leesa Shrader at Mercy Corps points out, this is rapidly turning a health crisis into a hunger crisis. She explores how tech-powered solutions can help them survive the pandemic and build resilience for the future.
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- Agriculture, Coronavirus
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India’s Self-Help Groups Need Help: How to Strengthen a Proven Model to Support Women’s Recovery From the COVID-19 Crisis
Women’s empowerment is a growing focus in the development sector, but COVID-19 is putting the hard-won progress women have made in recent years at risk. Moin Qazi highlights one way to support women in emerging countries: the self-help group model. He discusses how these groups operate in India, their strengths and weaknesses, and how they could be leveraged to address the current crisis.
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- Coronavirus, Education, Finance, Impact Assessment
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A Sector in Ruins or ‘Building Back Better’? Findings From e-MFP’s Covid-19 Financial Inclusion Compass
With the COVID-19 pandemic and the global recession it has triggered, the financial inclusion sector is facing perhaps the greatest crisis in its modern history. In response, the European Microfinance Platform repurposed this year's Financial Inclusion Compass survey for this critical moment. Sam Mendelson discusses the results, and what they say about the sector's priorities, challenges and prospects for recovery.
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- Coronavirus, Finance, Investing
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Digital Identity and Financial Inclusion: How Digitizing Customer Due Diligence Can Strengthen Providers During COVID-19 and Beyond
Customer due diligence requirements are a major barrier to financial inclusion, since in some countries up to half the adult population can't open a bank account because they lack the necessary identity documents. With COVID-19 placing this obstacle in the spotlight, analysts at Cenfri explore how digital ID systems can benefit providers and customers, during the pandemic and beyond.
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- Coronavirus, Finance, Technology
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Does ‘Impact’ Lie in the Eyes of Investors in India?
India faces an annual financing gap of US $565 billion in achieving its SDG targets - which creates a huge opportunity for impact investors. But according to Mohit Saini at the Fletcher School, the country's investors have no specific, well-accepted definition of impact. He discusses this challenge, and how standardized, sector-specific metrics could help address it.
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- Impact Assessment, Investing
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Tackling the Creative Economy Financing Gap: How Short-Term Capital Can Unlock Long-Term Impact Among Artisan Businesses
An estimated 3% of global GDP comes from creative industries – and the sector is growing quickly in the developing world. Laura Callanan at Upstart Co-Lab and Christopher van Bergen at Nest Inc. argue that now is the time to shape the creative economy to be more inclusive and sustainable. But for that to happen, the industry must first address its funding gap.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Investing
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The Future of Microfinance: An Interview With Ira W. Lieberman
Though its profile is somewhat lower than in its heyday, microfinance remains a relevant player in the development sector, supporting some 200 million people worldwide. A new book, “The Future of Microfinance,” contemplates the industry's tumultuous evolution and future development. NextBillion spoke with Ira W. Lieberman, a co-editor of the book, to discuss its thought-provoking insights.
- Categories
- Finance
