Reliable Travel On India’s City Buses
By CDC Transport demand in most Indian cities has increased substantially. This is due to both natural population increases and migration from rural areas and smaller towns.* Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh has a typically poor public transport system that holds back economic development. When CDC visited Ujjain in 2010 one traveller told the team: “The […]
Bitcoin: A Force for Positive Change?
Sex, drugs, thugs and thieves — that’s pretty much been bitcoin’s story since it arrived in 2009. But is bitcoin truly all doom and gloom? What if instead bitcoin isn’t the end of the world, but rather an opportunity for change? Bitcoin is new and it’s a little strange. It’s virtual “money” that people trade […]
Low-cost Pharmaceuticals In Bangladesh
“We are a least developed country, but in pharmaceuticals, we are ahead” DR. M.A. MALEK CHOWDHURY Director, Industrial Operations In the photo above he demonstrates the infusion bags, used for diarrhoea and post–operations, which are now manufactured by Popular Pharmaceuticals in Bangladesh ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE MEDICINES Popular Pharmaceuticals is one of Bangladesh’s largest companies producing […]
Providing Finance To Growing Companies In Sub-Saharan Africa
Towards the end of 2012 CDC committed US$30m to the Investec Africa Credit Opportunities Fund I, sub-Saharan Africa’s first corporate debt fund, which is run by Investec Asset Management. The commitment was the first made by CDC’s debt and financial institutions team. Debt investments, which are made directly to companies and financial institutions as well […]
ESG Standards In Heavy Manufacturing
“I’m proud to say Athi River Steel Plant is one step ahead of any other steel manufacturing company in Kenya. We are the benchmark as far as health and safety policy implementation is concerned. Our safety record has improved tremendously.” IMPROVING ESG STANDARDS The air rings with the jangling sounds of banging metal and the […]
Supporting Jobs In Dhaka
“My father was sick and I had to support the family. I have a younger brother and sister who go to school.” Rupa Sewing Operator, Ananta Apparels HAVING A JOB When Rupa’s father fell ill, she found she had to earn an income to support the family to supplement the income earned from her father’s […]
Supporting Rural Employment
BACKGROUND Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in Africa, with over 70% of its population living below the poverty line. It is also ranked 163 out of 189 on the World Bank’s ease of doing business index, making it even harder for businesses to flourish and drive economic growth. The lychee industry is a […]
Vehicle Finance For Entrepreneurs That Can't Access Bank Loans
By CDC Lalu Ram bought a tractor for US$8000 with a loan from Au Financiers, a non-bank finance company based locally in Jaipur. Farmers like Lalu Ram would find it almost impossible to obtain a loan from a ‘traditional’ bank as they often do not have the proper documentation.With the use of a tractor, Lalu […]
Vehicle Finance For Entrepreneurs That Can’t Access Bank Loans
By CDC Lalu Ram bought a tractor for US$8000 with a loan from Au Financiers, a non-bank finance company based locally in Jaipur. Farmers like Lalu Ram would find it almost impossible to obtain a loan from a ‘traditional’ bank as they often do not have the proper documentation.With the use of a tractor, Lalu […]
Linking Small Holder Farmers in Africa to Global Consumers
The first investment made by CDC’s new equity investment team was made in the autumn of 2012 when CDC provided US$32.5m to the founders of Export Trading Group (ETG). ETG is an African agribusiness with operations in crop buying, warehousing, distribution and merchandising that employs over 7,000 people. THE FIRST EQUITY INVESTMENT UNDER NEW STRATEGY […]
Job Creation In Kenya
“Now I have a steady income there is no hassle of meeting my financial obligations to the family or to dependents. In Africa, if you have a job, you usually have a lot of dependents, not only your family.” Christopher Wangul has been working at Athi Steel for more than 14 years. HAVING A JOB […]
Profit Needn’t be a Dirty Word in Impact Investing
Interview with Edward Hanrahan, Director of Climate Care, on the barriers to scaling-up impact investment. Interview conducted by Duncan Jefferies is Assistant Editor, Green Futures. What are the barriers to scaling up impact investment on sustainability issues from ClimateCare’s point of view? We believe that it is absolutely essential for a truly sustainable business to […]
Intensifying Mobile Money Usage
Despite the usual protestations that their country is not like Kenya, that they are not as dominant as mobile operator Safaricom is in its home market, and that their regulator is not as flexible as the Kenyan one has proven to be, most mobile money providers that I have seen largely follow the early M-PESA […]
Shared Interest Society – Investing in a Fairer World
Shared Interest Society asks its members to invest in a fairer world and helps people in some of the poorest countries trade their way out of poverty. Social impacts Increased incomes and employment: last year, the 97 producer groups Shared Interest Society financed collectively earned revenues of £236,056,545. Greater equality and opportunity: last year, the […]
A Guide To Working With Informal Financial Institutions
Amid the growing interest in building effective and scalable solutions to meet the financing needs of the world’s 450 million smallholder farmers, organizations rarely pay much attention to the thousands of informal financial institutions that can be found in rural communities throughout the world. Instead, discussions on ways to close the estimated $400 billion gap […]
Sustainability – Why Measuring Impact Matters
Over the past decade, we have seen increasing optimism about Africa’s economic prospects and governance. Once derided by The Economist as “the hopeless continent”, the last edition of this publication to focus on the region featured the cover story “Africa Rising”. Record growth rates in many African countries are underpinned by sustained political stability, the […]
A Warning and an Appeal to the Diamond Industry
In Africa and South America there are more than one and a half million diamond diggers working in arduous and highly dangerous conditions for paltry reward. They and their families – up to 10 million people in total – barely survive on less than two dollars a day and their communities are trapped in abject […]
A 'Coopetitive' Business Model For Financial Inclusion
“Same: Same, but different” – We have all seen this printed on t-shirts across the world. It is a similar story here in Nepal with the shared access mobile financial services platform “Hello Paisa” – that is now beginning to scale up. The Hello Paisa platform is currently live with 8 partner banks – and […]
A ‘Coopetitive’ Business Model For Financial Inclusion
“Same: Same, but different” – We have all seen this printed on t-shirts across the world. It is a similar story here in Nepal with the shared access mobile financial services platform “Hello Paisa” – that is now beginning to scale up. The Hello Paisa platform is currently live with 8 partner banks – and […]
Linking Socio-Economic Impact and Business Strategy
