3 mins in development finance/wk35

Introduction

During the crisis, I decided to share links to content I’ve recently digested that I think are relevant for those interested in Development Finance and Impact investing in general.

Not all articles featured here are about the DFIs, but in my opinion, they address the markets we invest in and/or speak about subjects/ideas that we should be aware of. You will note that I am partial to content on Financial Inclusion, Education and Asia in particular.I publish this list weekly.

I hope you enjoy and please **follow me** on LinkedIN for more updates.

Key takeaways wk35

IFCs track record across 130 emerging market and developing economies shows its portfolio has outperformed the S&P 500 by 15 percent. Part of their analysis concludes by addressing a question on what is an impact investor: “offering an alternative definition of the impact investor as one that provides capital to eligible projects when it is not available on reasonable terms…”

IFC releases a report that assesses how PE Funds in EMs may evolve as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, focusing in particular on the Growth Equity and Venture Capital (VC) asset classes.

Another IFC report elaborates on how Africa can learn from the economic development path followed throughout East Asia by strengthening their “Economic Fitness” by implementing structural changes and leveraging their comparative advantage.

COVID has pushed forth the digitization of the Indian agriculture sector, by encouraging small holder and rural farmers to use available tech solutions, partially propelled by the rise in smartphone adoption.

Development Finance

IFC & World Bank

• *(26/08/20) Long-run Returns to Impact Investing in Emerging Market and Developing Economies (English)
• (24/08/20) Micro, Small, and Medium Businesses and Farmers Benefit from More Than Half a Billion Dollars in COVID-19 Support in Asia-Pacific Region
• *(24/08/20) Impacts of the COVID-19 Crisis on Private Equity Funds in Emerging Markets
• *(24/08/20) What African Industrial Development Can Learn from East Asian Successes — The Role of Complexity and Economic Fitness
• (29/07/20) EGPS Launches New Emergency Relief Response for Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Communities Impacted by COVID-19

EIB

• (25/08/20) COVID-19 highlights need to dramatically ramp up financing for UN water goal

CDC

• (28/08/20) CDC Group announces Miro Forestry fundraising close
• (26/08/20) CDC keeps trade flowing to combat COVID-19
• (24/08/20) CDC to invest in Indian tech-focussed VC firm Chiratae Ventures

Asia Development Bank

• ( — / — /a) Tackling the COVID-19 Youth Employment Crisis in Asia and the Pacific
• (28/08/20) CNBC Debate: Resetting Asia — Technology, Investment, and Sustainability (video)
• (28/08/20) ADB Provides $3 Million Grant for Kazakhstan’s Fight Against COVID-19
• (25/08/20) ADB to Help Boost Philippines’ COVID-19 Health Response with $125 Million Loan
• (24/08/20) Safety, Data, and Green’ the Keywords to Transport Sector’s Sustainable Recovery from COVID-19, Says ADB President

African Development Bank

• (26/08/20) Malawi: the Mzuzu-Nkhata Bay road now among the country’s safest roads, thanks to African Development Bank support
• (25/08/20) Unlocking the potential of African women in business
• (25/08/20) Financing Africa’s energy transition
• (25/08/20) AfDB’s 2020 Annual Meetings focus on response to Covid-19

AIIB

• (28/08/20) AIIB Approves USD100-Million Loan to Bangladesh for COVID-19 Response

FMO

• (24/08/20) Performance FMO: focus on COVID-19 resilience for customers
• (24/08/20) A new way of measuring jobs supported
• (24/08/20) MICRO CAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Loans $3.5m for Microfinance, SMEs Via ACEP Burkina Faso

Proparco

• (18/08/20) Coronavirus: the AFD group is mobilized

EBRD

• (26/08/20) Bank of China provides B-loan financing on Kazak ring road
• (18/08/20) EBRD strengthens regional agribusiness value chains

DEG

• (25/08/20) DEG promotes authenticity proof for pharmaceuticals in Africa

SwedFund

• (05/08/20) Empowering women

FinnFund

• (17/08/20) Finnfund provides US$10 million loan to First National Bank Ghana to strengthen capacity in Ghanaian financial sector

Misc content in development finance

• (28/08/20) Covid accelerated digitisation of agri sector: Omnivore
• (27/08/20) ESG data — mind the gaps
• (25/08/20) COVID-19 highlights need to dramatically ramp up financing for UN water goal
• *(24/08/20) How LPs Can Generate Alpha in 2020 — Kauffman Fellows
• (24/08/20) A $91 Billion Asset Manager Dumps Exxon, Chevron on Climate
• (24/08/20) From ESG to SDG?
• (24/08/20) First-of-its-kind summit to push development banks on climate
• (23/07/20) An Opportunity To Reimagine Education Systems
• (20/08/20) Loss of Greenland Ice Sheet Reached a Record Last Year
• (20/08/20) Covid-19: The Deathknell of ESG Investing or A New Beginning?
• (09/08/20) Interested in Social-Impact Investing? Here’s How to Start

Misc content around technology of interest (and others)

• (24/08/20) How do we move around in a zero-carbon world?
• (23/09/20) (WEBINAR) Webinar 3: The Rise of the Green Economy
• (23/08/20) The 21st century pricing of your jeans
• (21/05/20) Want to Be More Productive? Try Doing Less.
• (17/07/20) UN SDG 7 Publications Urge Enhanced Energy Action Amidst Global Pandemic | News | SDG Knowledge Hub | IISD
• (15/07/20) How Humor Can Help You Cope During the Pandemic
• (14/05/20) (VIDEO) Why we all fall foul of the Dunning-Kruger effect —
• (05/08/20) Technology to transform the mind

Country Views

India

• (27/08/20) Agritech Innovations to have an Outsized Impact on Indian Agriculture by 2030
• (25/08/20) Can agritech fix India’s fragmented farm-to-fork supply chain?
• (24/08/20) Making Credit Trendy: How Fintech Apps Are Attracting Youngsters in India
• (14/08/20) RBI’s 24th Monetary Policy Meeting — Opportunity for FinTechs,?

Indonesia

• (26/08/20) Palladium implementing program for better education in Indonesia
• (25/08/20) The pandemic could leave Indonesia’s 69 million students further behind their global peers
• (18/08/20) Infradigital helps Indonesian Schools digitize tuition and enrollment
• (10/08/20) Fitch Affirms Indonesia at ‘BBB’; Outlook Stable

Vietnam

• (26/08/20) Vietnam’s ruling party should step up fight against graft — Asia Times
• (21/08/20) An Inside Look at Da Nang, Vietnam’s Covid-19 Epicenter | Saigoneer
• (18/08/20) Vietnam introduces higher education comparative ranking system

Phillipines

• (24/08/20) Benjamin E Diokno: The Philippines — becoming an economic champion in the post-COVID world
• (19/08/20) Are Schools in the Philippines Ready to Open in a Pandemic?
• (17/08/20) The pandemic is reshaping education, here’s how the Philippines is coping
• (10/08/20) Gobear and Unionbank Partner To Launch Lending as a Service in the Phillipines

Myanmar

• (19/08/20) Developing Myanmar’s second year pre-service teacher education curriculum
• (12/08/20) Fintech firm takes remittance service global

Cambodia

• (30/08/20) Cambodia kindergartens, schools to reopen on Sept 7

Loas

• (23/08/20) Journalism a tool of indoctrination in communist Laos

Subscription Required

The Economist

• (15/08/20) Covid-19 is causing a microcredit crunch
• (15/08/20) Seeking scale — Blended finance is struggling to take off | Finance & economics | The Economist

Financial Times

• (27/08/20) Turmoil creates opportunity for wealthy to invest in green buildings
• (26/08/20) Assets in ESG exchange traded funds and products top $100bn
• (26/08/20) India’s central bank calls for recapitalisation after coronavirus shock

WSJ

• (24/08/20) Preserving Trees Becomes Big Business, Driven by Emissions Rules — WSJ

PE News

• (20/08/20) Coronavirus crisis is redefining the role of private equity CFOs — Private Equity News

Enjoy.

If you have any suggestions for articles that should be featured in future lists, please drop me a note.

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