3 mins in development finance/ wk43 & 44 (Oct 19th-Nov 1st)
4 min readNov 17, 2020
My weekly reading list for those interested in development finance and Impact investing focused on developing countries.
Development Finance
IFC & World Bank
- (29/10/20) IFC Study: Female Employees in Sri Lanka’s Private Sector Are More Productive Working from Home Amid COVID-19 -”IFC”
- (28/10/20) IFC Helps Businesses In Poorest Countries Fight Pandemic With $4 Billion In COVID-19 Financing -”IFC”
- (27/10/20) New IFC Guidebook Supports Development of Mongolia’s Livestock Sector, Offers Scope to Bolster Exports -”IFC”
- (22/10/20) IFC’s $35 million Investment in Prime Bank will Help Bangladeshi Businesses Preserve Thousands of Jobs -”IFC”
- (21/10/20) EFL and IFC sign agreement for Pacific’s largest solar project -”IFC”
- (20/10/20) A Stronger Private Sector Could Boost Nigeria’s Economic Growth: IFC/World Bank Report -”IFC”
- (20/10/20) New IFC Survey Reveals A Third of Workers in Bangladesh’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Now Jobless in wake of COVID-19 Impacts -”IFC”
- (19/10/20) IFC’s Green Loan to Thailand’s Top Hotel Group Will Help Drive Economic Recovery, Create Jobs -”IFC”
- (19/10/20) Women-Owned Businesses More Likely to Borrow from Family and Friends to Deal with COVID-19 Impacts -”IFC”
- (16/10/20) Video: Closing the Digital Divide -”WorldBankLive”
- (07/10/20) IFC Invests in Egyptian Private Equity Fund to Support Business Growth Amid COVID-19 -”IFC”
Asia Development Bank
- (29/10/20) ADB Ventures Supports Clean Brick Production in Nepal -”ADB”
- (29/10/20) $484 Million ADB Loan to Fund New GMS Expressway in Myanmar -”ADB”
- (29/10/20) Signing of ADB Loan to Sustain Financial Inclusion, Economic Diversification in Bhutan -”ADB”
- (28/10/20) ADB Must Increase Upstream Engagements in PPPs to Address Post-COVID Investment Gap — Independent Evaluation Report -”ADB”
- (28/10/20) ADB Loan to Sustain Financial Inclusion, Economic Diversification in Bhutan -”ADB”
- (21/10/20) ADB Endorses New 5-Year Partnership Strategy for Maldives -”ADB”
- (21/10/20) ADB $420 Million Program to Improve Conditions and Opportunities along IMAR Border, PRC -”ADB”
- (21/10/20) ADB Urges Southeast Asian Countries to Close Digital Divide, Promote Equitable Growth Amid COVID-19 -”ADB”
African Development Bank
- (30/10/20) Workshop teaches financial institutions and SMEs how to attract climate funding -”AFDB”
- (26/10/20) A Ghanaian maize farmer thrives on the ashes of destroyed forest-”AFDB”
- (20/10/20) African and US development financiers reaffirm their commitment to attracting greater private sector capital to Africa -”ADB”
Proparco
- (30/10/20) Push SME, The Sme Support Mechanism of Societe Generale, A Choose Africa Partner Of Proparco -”Proparco
- (27/10/20) Sri Lanka: Supporting Smes In Rural Areas With Hatton National Bank -”Proparco”
- (23/10/20) The President Of The Republic Of Mozambique Officially Launches The Construction Works For The Metro Solar Power Plant Financed By AFD Group -”Proparco”
- (19/10/20) Proparco Invests In The Egypt — Focused LCP Fund II -”Proparco”
CDC
- (28/10/20) CDC Insight: Advancing private and public sector collaboration — “YouTube”
- (27/10/20) CDC commits additional US $40 million to Liquid Telecom supporting Africa’s digital transformation -”CDC”
DFC
- (29/10/20) DFC Announces New Initiatives to Support Prosperity in the Indo-Pacific -”DFC”
- (28/10/20) U.S. Delegation Advances Investment Opportunities During Travel to Indo-Pacific Region -”DFC”
- (23/10/20) U.S. Delegation to Visit Indonesia, Vietnam, and Myanmar -DFC”
- (22/10/20) Roadmap for Impact -”DFC”
EBRD
- (30/10/20) Video: Better milk for Mongolia -”EBRD”
- (27/10/20) First FIN-SMART roundtable on financing sustainable maritime transport -”EBRD”
- (26/10/20) EBRD, AIIB, ICBC and GCF provide US$ 95.3 million for wind farm in Kazakhstan -”EBRD”
- (22/10/20) EBRD increases trade support in Tunisia -”EBRD”
- (22/10/20) EBRD supports Badia Impact Squared first closing -”EBRD”
- (22/10/20) EBRD and Khan Bank support heavy machinery supplier in Mongolia -”EBRD”
- (22/10/20) EBRD releases new funds to complete overhaul of Shymkent water utility -”EBRD”
DEG
FMO
- (30/10/20) Responsible digitalization is key for youth employment in Africa -”FMO”
- (30/10/20) FMO: Women are a top investment -”FMO”
BIO
SIFEM
SwedFund
Misc content in development finance
- ( — /10/20) GlobalSME Finance Awards | -”SME Finance Forum”
- (23/10/20) South Asia Has a New Economic Leader. Will the World Take Note? -”TheDiplomat”
- (22/10/20) Summit: (9–12/11/20) The First Global Summit Of All Public Development Banks -”FinanceInCommon”
- (22/10/20) Reports: Understanding Impact Performance -”TheGinn”
- (22/10/20) Report: Understanding Impact Performance: Financial Inclusion Investments-”TheGinn”
- (21/10/20) UZH — Center for Sustainable Finance and Private Wealth — Investor Impact — How Can Investors Change the World? -”UniversityOfZurich”
- (21/10/20) IMF expects multi-speed recovery in Asia-Pacific region — “Anadulo Agency”
- (20/10/20) Educating Central Asia, From Soviet Collapse to COVID-19 -”The Diplomat”
- (20/10/20) World-Class Education grows in Cambodia -”KhmerTimes”
- (13/10/20) Call for proposal for Agro-Water contest in Mekong Delta -”InternationaalOndernemen”
- (23/09/20) Habitat, water security and air quality: New index reveals which sectors and countries are at risk from biodiversity loss | -”Swiss Re”
Misc content around technology of interest
- (30/10/20) Cambodia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem is young and vibrant but not well-connected: Survey -”KhmerTimes”
- (29/10/20) Four ways to start making better, data-backed business decisions -”TechWireAsia”
- (28/10/20) Incomplete Kaladan Project May Delay India-Myanmar Connectivity Plans -”TheDiplomat’
- (28/10/20) Cellcard, Dutch NGO partner to improve youth digital skills -”KhmerTimes”
- (28/10/20) Harry Robinson: How companies must transform for success in The Next Normal -”McKinsey”
- (27/10/20) Going Digital is Necessary for Small Businesses to Survive -”ModernDiplomacy”
- (27/10/20) World Bank, BRAC Join Hands to Improve Road Safety in Bangladesh -”ModernDiplomacy”
- (27/10/20) Women in STEM, episode 2: Building diverse teams -”McKinsey”(24/10/20) New tech to bolster ASEAN e-trade -”VietnamInvestmentReview”
- (23/10/20) Mind the Gap: How Southeast Asia Can Make the AI Leap -”The Diplomat”
- (23/10/20) PayPal allows crypto spending — is the rest of the world ready? -”TechWireAsia”
- (23/10/20) It’s cheaper to build new solar than it is to operate coal plants -”PVMagazine”
- (20/10/20) How digital supports resilience and sustainable development in Africa -”FinanceInCommon”
- (20/10/20) AI to be a US$366b industry in Indonesia by 2030 -”TechWireAsia”
- (20/10/20) Can Vietnam’s crowded e-wallet market take more players? -”TechWireAsia”
- (03/07/20) Sub-Saharan solar minigrid market worth $128 billion by 2030 -”PVMagazine”
Enjoy.
If you have suggestions for articles that should be featured in future lists, please drop me a note and follow LinkedIN.
