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Reimagining Slums: Innovative Solutions to Bangladesh’s Urban Housing Dilemma
Bangladesh's housing deficit has quadrupled in the last decade and, in the absence of adequate measures, it is projected to increase to 8.5 million units by 2021. Due to extreme demand and lack of rent control in slums, housing prices are sky-high. BRAC's Asif Saleh and Mahira Khan say these challenges highlight an opportunity for testing out models for urban development that leverage government, private business and the development sector.
- Categories
- Investing, Uncategorized
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Empowering OPIC: Why the U.S. Should Embrace Development Finance and Harness the Power of Impact Investing
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) supports projects in nearly 100 countries around the world, leveraging limited public investment to attract billions of dollars in private capital. And for 39 consecutive years, it has returned money to the Treasury, reducing the deficit by $2.6 billion over the past eight years alone. Yet it remains constrained in the types of investments it can make. Fran Seegull urges the U.S. to let OPIC better harness the momentum of impact investing.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
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Making it Rain: Solar-Powered Irrigation and the ‘Household Productivity Ladder’
Solar energy can be put to many constructive uses in emerging market households, but SunCulture focuses on helping smallholder farmers move water. Why? Because it has the greatest impact on a key area: household productivity. Their CEO Samir Ibrahim shares the story of a SunCulture customer, whose experiences highlight the value of solar-powered irrigation to 2.5 billion farmers living on less than $2 a day.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Social Enterprise, Technology
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Shift to ‘innovative’ financing to achieve 2030 SDGs pushed
If countries in Asia and the Pacific, like the Philippines, will achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, their governments must turn to innovative financing models. In a report, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Unescap) and Korea’s Science and Technology Policy Institute (Stepi) said meeting the SDGs worldwide could amount to $2.5 trillion.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Snapcart raises $10M to shed light on consumer spending in emerging markets
A 2-year-old startup tucked away in Southeast Asia, Snapcart is taking on $15 billion powerhouse Nielsen by shining a light on the black box that is consumer spending.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Helping Farmers Rebuild After Civil War Isn’t Charity; It’s Good Business
As an agribusiness owner in Africa, GADC founder Bruce Robertson has grown weary of the silver bullet solutions proposed for transforming rural economies. In 22 years in Uganda, he has yet to see a quick fix. But private enterprise has enormous potential to improve rural lives when donors and businesses collaborate, he says, explaining GADC's "replicable model with huge potential for expansion."
- Categories
- Agriculture, Impact Assessment, Social Enterprise
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Funding Education With Impact: How We Can Address Student, Market Needs in India
Although education is one of the most funded causes among private social funders in India, including about US $45 million in impact investment per annum over 2014-2017, this has translated into near-universal access to education at primary school level but not in other education segments. Asian Venture Philanthropy Network's Martina Mettgenberg-Lemiere and Anh Nguyen propose some market-based strategies.
- Categories
- Education, Impact Assessment, Investing
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Adding the Secret Sauce: The Recipe for Turning Young Social Entrepreneurs into Impactful Leaders
Six years ago, Alanna Sousa couldn't even pronounce the word 'entrepreneurship,' but she soon fell in love with social entrepreneurship. Sousa recounts her journey from naively opening a 'consultancy for social impact' in her native Brazil to learning the importance of mentoring and coaching for success in the social business sector. She now works for the Global Good Fund, which trains young entrepreneurs to tackle urgent social problems.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
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