3 mins in Development Finance/ wk 12
6 min readApr 1, 2021
My weekly reading list for those interested in development finance and Impact investing focused on developing countries.
IFC and World Bank
- (-.03.21) CREATING MARKETS: Harvesting Stability for India’s Salt Farmers | IFC
- (21.03.21) World Bank: Morocco Boasts Fifth Highest Nominal GDP in Africa | Morocco World News
- (22.03.21) ‘Rechannelling financial flows’: HSBC and World Bank close $540m green bond | Recharge
- (22.03.21) Empowering Egyptian women: Benefits of gender balanced employment policy | The World Bank Blogs
- (23.03.21) Gaja Capital to raise $400 mn for new fund, IFC planning to commit $25 mn | Business Standard News
- (23.03.21) What is World Bank Development Policy Financing? | Bretton Woods Project
- (24.03.21) Somalia’s Women Voices: Pushing for Gender-Inclusive Representation | World Bank
- (24.03.21) Nigeria’s Private Sector Looks Past the Pandemic | IFC
- (24.03.21) Juggling Jobs and Childcare | IFC
- (24.03.21) Supporting Women-Friendly Transport for Greater Economic Participation and Social Empowerment of Women in Afghanistan | IFC
- (24.03.21) IFC Survey Reveals Extent of COVID-19 Pandemic’s Impact on Global Trade Finance | IFC
- (24.03.21) IFC and Egyptian Fintech Association Partner to Support Fintech Entrepreneurs | IFC
- (24.03.21) Indian e-com rules may be biased: World Bank | Mint
- (24.03.21) From crisis to resilience: World Bank Group Spring Meetings to focus on helping countries build a green and resilient recovery | The World Bank Blogs
- (24.03.21) REGIO hits final close at $538m | Africa Global Funds
- (25.03.21) IFC, Egyptian Fintech Association partner to support entrepreneurship | EgyptToday
- (25.03.21) VIDEO — A Sustainable Ocean Economy is Key to Indonesia’s Prosperity | World Bank
- (25.03.21) China set to lead recovery of East Asian and Pacific economies -World Bank | The Financial Post
- (25.03.21) IFC Partners with Nepal Stock Exchange to Ring the Bell for Gender Equality | IFC
- (26.03.21) Vietnam: AU$740,000-Grant to Close Gender Data Gaps | World Bank
- (26.03.21) World Bank Helps Bangladesh Create Inclusive and Quality Jobs and Recover from the COVID-19 Pandemic | The World Bank
- (26.03.21) Sudan Clears Arrears, Gains Access to $2 Billion in New World Bank Financing | World Bank
- (26.03.21) World Bank Group Re-Engagement in Sudan | World Bank
- (27.03.21) Philippines Country Gender Action Plan (FY20–24) | World Bank
ADB
- (22.03.21) $300 Million from Green Climate Fund to Support ADB’s First Green Recovery Program in Southeast Asia | Asian Development Bank
- (23.03.21) VIDEO — New Ways to Measure Women’s Work and Empowerment | Asian Development Bank
- (23.03.21) ADB Study Calls for Skills Training Reform in the Philippines | Asian Development Bank
- (23.03.21) ADB Project to Expand Cash Grants for Children in Mongolia | Asian Development Bank
- (24.03.21) ADB invests in sustainable start-ups | Financial Standard
- (25.03.21) 54th ADB Annual Meeting to Focus on Collaboration for a Resilient and Green Recovery | Modern Diplomacy
AfDB
- (22.03.21) Togo launches AfDB’s platform for women entrepreneurs | Togo First
- (22.03.21) AfDB Commits $530 Million To Angolan Electricity Expansion Project | Africa Oil & Power
- (23.03.21) Green banks and national climate funds have a key role in mobilizing funds for low-carbon, climate-resilient development in Africa: report | African Development Bank
- (24.03.21) Canadian AfDB partnership for gender lensed climate financing | ESI-Africa.com
- (25.03.21) Namibia: AfDB Approves N$1.5 Billion Loan for Namibia | Afro News
- (26.03.21) AfCFTA: Free trade bloc can be a game changer for African people and business | African Development Bank
- (26.03.21) AfDB puts US$530m into region’s renewable energy | The Southern Times
- (26.03.21)African Development Bank lends Uganda $230m for Kampala-Jinja toll motorway — News | Global Construction Review
- (28.03.21) AfDB chief, others seek US intervention to end hunger | The Guardian Nigeria News
EIB
- (22.03.21) A Global Green Deal: op-ed by von der Leyen and Hoyer (EIB) | European Commission
- (24.03.21) EU-Africa: 30 days of dialogue on green transition | EIB
EBRD
BIO
CDC
DEG
DFC
- (24.03.21) ICS Launches The Indonesian Resilience Fund | MarketWatch
- (24.03.21) Financing post-COVID recovery in Africa: Lessons from the AFC-DFC partnership | Atlantic Council
FMO
- (23.03.21) Stimulating the potential of Nigeria’s smallholder farmers | FMO
- (24.03.21) FMO in 2020: Standing by our customers | FMO
Norfund
UN
Misc Content in Development Finance
- (15.03.21) Cautious Optimism: MSMEs Are Rebounding From the Impacts of COVID-19 | Center for Financial Inclusion
- (22.03.21) Driving global financial inclusion | The Guardian Nigeria News
- (22.03.21) Government planning crackdown on apps offering cash loans online | Hindustan Times
- (23.03.21) Finance Minister Sitharaman tables key development finance institution bill in Lok Sabha |The New Indian Express
- (24.03.21) Corporate investors hold key to inclusive entrepreneurship | World Economic Forum
- (24.03.21) Joint Impact Indicators for Impact Investors | JDSupra
- (24.03.21) Sir Ronald Cohen on “How Impact Investment and Entrepreneurship Are Reshaping Capitalism” | Yale School of Management
- (24.03.21) Joint Impact Indicators for Impact Investors | Womble Bond Dickinson | JDSupra
- (25.03.21) In their own words: Turkven’s Seymur Tari | Private Equity News
- (26.03.21) Singapore’s Temasek sees impact investing at tipping point | Reuters | Business | The Guardian
- (26.03.21) Early-stage investments in SME sector grew 8.5X in 2020: Impact Investors Council India | Your Story
- (28.03.21) Govt funds, corp bond market may fall short of financing infra projects | Mint
Misc Technology
- (18.03.21) Pandemic seen to test digital banks’ strength | BusinessWorld
- (24.03.21) Nigerian fintech of the unbanked Bankly raises $2M led by Vault | TechCrunch
- (25.03.21) Blythe Masters: «Banks No Neophytes to Fintech» | Finews
- (25.03.21) Central Banks Focus On Financial Inclusion As Cryptos Get Traction | Cryptonews
- (25.03.21) China Digital Yuan Will Co-Exist With Alipay, WeChat, PBOC Says | BNN Bloomberg
- (27.03.21) The Top Recent African Fintech Funding Rounds including Flutterwave, Adumo and Kuda | The Fintech Times
- (28.03.21) New Report ‘FinTech Growth in Emerging Markets: Key Lessons from Industry Leaders’ Now Live | The Fintech Times
Misc Gender
- (22.03.21) Women and financial inclusion | The Express Tribune
- (24.03.21) 6 Women in Energy Leaders Outline How to Make the Field More Equitable | Columbia News
- (25.03.21) PODCAST: A Conversation with Pratibha Vuppuluri on Diversity in Venture Capital and Social Impact Unicorns | Causeartist
- (27.03.21) Institutional investors increase focus on ethnic and gender diversity in wake of 2020 | Institutional Asset Manager
Misc Sustainability
- (21.03.21) Are we on track for a green recovery? Not Yet | Modern Diplomacy
- (22.03.21) Ex-Blackrock exec starts row over value of sustainable investing | Financial Post
- (24.03.21) Sustainable agriculture is the next way ESG investors can fight climate change | MarketWatch
- (24.03.21) Manulife IM bolsters subsidiary with natural climate and impact hire | Citywire
- (26.03.21) UK rules out public subsidy for East African oil pipeline | ClimateChangeNews
- (26.03.21) ESG Investment Strategies Are Much More Than Marketing Hype | Barron’s
- (28.03.21) Green stocks have got caught up in the tech sell-off. But it’s just a dip, as climate investing is set to power ahead under Biden, according to JPMorgan | Markets Insider
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- (23.03.21) Former BlackRock Executive Tariq Fancy Blows the Greenwashing Whistle | Bloomberg
- (23.03.21) IFC proposes $64m loan for I-Squared Capital-owned China Cube Water | Deal Street Asia
- (24.03.21) Impact investing will continue to grow, fuelled by retail investors: Temasek, Companies & Markets | The Business Times
- (25.03.21) CDC Group, FMO, SDC jointly launch Nepal Invests to support innovation | Deal Street Asia
- (25.03.21) FMO posts first net loss in 3 decades as PE portfolio valuation dives | Deal Street Asia
- (25.03.21) G-7 Coordination Seen as ‘Missing Piece’ for Sustainable Finance | Bloomberg
- (26.03.21) African asset managers can capitalize on Biden White House policy | Quartz Africa
- (26.03.21) Opinion: BlackRock hired me to make sustainable investing mainstream. Now I realize it’s a deadly distraction from the climate-change threat | The Globe and Mail
- (27.03.21) ESG battles to watch during this year’s AGM season | Financial Times
Upcoming Webinar
- April 27, 2021: Ralph De Haas (EBRD) — Managerial and Financial Barriers to the Net-Zero Transition | Bank of Finland Research Institute **Abstract:** We use data on 11,233 firms across 22 emerging markets to analyze how credit constraints and low-quality firm management inhibit corporate investment in green technologies.
- June 22–25 : Sustainable Investment Festival — Registrations open!
If you have suggestions for articles that should be featured in future lists, please drop me a note and follow me on LinkedIn.
