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How Perceptions of Risk May Be Creating The “Missing-Middle” Funding Gap
The challenges small- and medium-sized businesses face in accessing capital in emerging markets are well-known. But Clint Bartlett and Michael Eastman wonder: What if the problem is not with the SMEs, but with the capital providers and their understanding of risk? They argue that the conventional perception of risk wrongly reinforces poor access to funding, which leads to a vicious circle impacting entire markets. They explore how shifting this perception could help funders see more opportunities and strengthen the system.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- impact investing
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Don’t Fear the Algorithm: The Risks and Benefits Of Machine Learning in Finance
Billions of people around the world lack access to basic financial services, and far too many promising entrepreneurs are deprived of financial opportunities simply because they don’t have a credit history. As JUMO founder and CEO Andrew Watkins-Ball sees it, this lack of access is fundamentally a technology problem – and machine learning can help solve it. But algorithm-assisted banking is not without risks: Watkins-Ball discusses its benefits and downsides, and how it's powering JUMO's work in Africa and Asia.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology
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From Counting Women to Valuing Women: Practical Impact Measurement Tools for Complex Contexts
The old way of measuring the gender equality of a company or program consisted of simply counting women – from the number of female employees and clients, to the number of women beneficiaries and board members. The new way is all about valuing women by collecting data on how they are impacted by a company or program. Rebecca Baylor at WDI's Performance Measurement team provides some concrete strategies for gender-based impact measurement and management.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
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Women Helping Women: How a Network of Female Digital Finance Agents is Boosting Empowerment in India
Digital finance has made great strides in India, but many women remain excluded – especially in rural areas. Grameen Foundation India is tackling this issue with a unique, digitally driven social enterprise model that harnesses the untapped potential of rural women, training them as field agents to extend digital finance to other women (and men) in their communities. Tanvi Gupta explores how these agents are empowering hundreds of thousands of women with access to financial services – while also generating needed income for themselves and their families.
- Categories
- Finance, Social Enterprise
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The Key to Financing the SDGs: UN Task Force Seeks New Ideas for Digital Finance – Here’s How You Can Contribute
Most people know about the gap in financing the Sustainable Development Goals – estimated at around US $2.5 trillion per year. Yet few people seem to know what to do about it. According to Tillman Bruett, Secretariat Director for the UN Secretary-General’s Task Force on the Digital Financing of the SDGs, solving this problem will require creative new financing models – and the digital revolution may provide the answer. He discusses the UN's new call for ideas about how digital finance can help fund the SDGs – and invites all interested parties to respond.
- Categories
- Finance
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Moving the World Toward Meaningful Financial, Social and Economic Inclusion: Welcoming Our Newest Partner, MicroSave Consulting (MSC)
NextBillion is proud to announce our newest partner: MicroSave Consulting (MSC). The organization is a boutique consulting firm that has been a leading voice in financial inclusion for 20 years – and we have worked with them informally for years to share their insights and analysis with our readers. As we expand these collaborations into a formal partnership, we're looking forward to boosting our coverage of MSC's ongoing efforts to push the world towards meaningful financial, social and economic inclusion, unlocking the benefits of financial access for low-income customers.
- Categories
- Finance
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How Can Fintech Serve the Poor? A Q&A with CGAP CEO Greta Bull
As fintech innovation transforms the financial sphere, what are the implications for low-income and unbanked individuals? Greta Bull, CEO of CGAP, explored this question in a widely read essay earlier this year, and NextBillion followed up to get a deeper sense of her views on fintech's potential (and practical) impact. Her thoughts offer an important barometer of an organization and an industry in transition, as the tech revolution continues to reshape financial inclusion.
- Categories
- Finance
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The Development Challenge You’re Overlooking: Seven Things You Need to Know About Land Rights
Approximately 72 percent of the world’s population – more than 4 billion people – live on property for which they do not hold formal rights. This presents obstacles to social cohesion, financial inclusion and economic growth – in fact, in many countries, landlessness is the best predictor of poverty. Yet the problem remains under-recognized in many global development discussions. Tim Rann, a partner at Mercy Corps’ Social Ventures team, lays out seven things you should know about the issue.
- Categories
- Environment
