"There is growing evidence that the growth of small and growing businesses (SGBs) can be spurred by business development services (BDS). But how BDS is provided is critical to its success. Five fundamental considerations, acronymized as SCALE, have emerged that drive effectiveness. This report shows that even quite simple changes of approach can yield significant benefits to entrepreneurial growth. Together with an accompanying toolkit, it offers both BDS providers and funders guidance on how to implement dimensions of SCALE, proven to increase effectiveness, and as a result, boost SGBs revenues and job creation."

Since its founding in 2009, the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) has tracked the state of the small and growing business (SGB) sector globally through its bi-annual State of the Sector reports.  One of the most dynamic markets for small business growth is South Africa. The South African entrepreneurial ecosystem requires innovative solutions to increase the available finance, improve access to markets, reduce bureaucratic burdens, and strengthen the capacity of small businesses and start-ups. This report examines the state of the SGB sector in South Africa as of 2023 by assessing the amount and type of financial support available to enterprises, the type of capacity development offered, and trends in the policy landscape that affect the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The report concludes by highlighting the activity of ANDE and its member

India needs a significant capital injection to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target by 2030 and deal with climate change. Impact investing, catalysing philanthropic and commercial capital, offers promise in addressing critical social challenges. Initiatives like the Social Stock Exchange (SSE) and regulatory amendments aim to increase and broaden the pooled funds available to social enterprises and help them scale. Given this context, ANDE South Asia produced this explainer in collaboration with TrustLaw to provide focused guidance on how local and foreign impact investors can leverage the SSE to make investments in social enterprises in India.

"Dismantling and shifting power structures is key for achieving meaningful social impact. For far too long, funders have had significant control over social impact organizations: what they focus on, how they allocate resources, and how they measure their own success. This control contributes to ongoing inequity and impedes progress. This report seeks to contribute to those solutions by beginning to address two essential questions: Who has power to define success?, and, Who should have power to define success? Guided by this frame of reference, we conducted a review of existing literature, a series of 22 interviews, and a survey of 409 nonprofit leaders, social innovators, and philanthropic funders to understand how philanthropy and social innovators measure success. We focused on the challenges faced specifically by Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) leaders. Across these three methods, we sought to understand four key questions: 1. Who has power to define vision, mission, and metrics? 2. What metrics are collected and how are they used? 3. What effect do metrics have on BIPOC leaders? 4. How can we create more equitable funding streams?"

"The report delves into micro and small women entrepreneurs’ credit journey and explores demand and supply-side factors. The study shares insights on credit requirements, experiences, challenges, and credit success determinants for individual and collective women-led enterprises. This report also identifies five key personas of female borrowers. It shares the supply-side experiences of bankers and other organizations who directly or indirectly lend to women entrepreneurs. It shares some novel methods and good practices supply-side stakeholders implement to mitigate and distribute credit risk. Ultimately, it provides key recommendations to enhance access to credit for women entrepreneurs."

"The report highlights the struggle of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in measuring and communicating their contributions to climate adaptation and resilience, owing to complexity, cost, and the inadequacy of existing metrics. This leads to a gap in understanding the impact of their efforts. The study aims to identify solutions and principles to better measure climate resilience and adaptation in MSMEs, guided by the Climate Capital Network's Metrics and Measurement Working Group. It aims to identify the challenges faced by MSMEs in measuring climate adaptation and resilience, assessing the relevance of metrics for investors, and outlining comprehensive principles to gauge these aspects effectively. It stresses the complexity and multifaceted nature of climate resilience and adaptation. They highlight the discrepancy and complexity among existing indicator frameworks, hindering their usability and comparability. MSMEs face hurdles in accessing and utilizing these metrics due to cost, complexity, and limited visibility compared to larger enterprises. The study identifies ten patterns crucial for measuring climate resilience and adaptation, emphasizing social impact, environmental conditions, financial considerations, risk management, and governance mechanisms. Finally, it emphasizes the need for flexible, comprehensive, and accessible metrics to facilitate investor understanding and encourage private sector investment in climate adaptation and resilience solutions. There's a call for clearer, standardized, and practical metrics supported by case studies to guide MSMEs in demonstrating their impact effectively to potential investors. This comprehensive approach aims to bridge the gap between the desire for climate resilience investments and the challenge of measuring their impact."

"This report emphasizes the urgency to transition from the "Age of Innovation" to the "Age of Adoption" in response to climate change impacts by 2030. It identifies the critical need for the widespread implementation and scaling of existing climate technologies, and problematizes the gap between the availability of viable climate solutions and the slow pace of their adoption. It explores what will it take to deploy innovations at scale, aiming to understand the barriers hindering the widespread implementation of climate innovations. It identifies the pivotal role of climate finance in facilitating large-scale adoption, and underscores the necessity for collaborative efforts among various financial stakeholders, such as venture capital, private equity, foundations, and corporates, to devise innovative financial mechanisms. The report showcases how these financial innovations combine grants, equity, and debt to address climate challenges effectively. Finally, it stresses the need for specialized climate finance to bring innovations to the market swiftly, and emphasizes collaborative efforts among diverse capital allocators to develop creative and collaborative climate finance strategies."

"An in-depth research report, issued by the African Venture Philanthropy Alliance (AVPA), with support from the Lemelson Foundation, on the role investors and innovators can play in accelerating private sector investment for physical climate adaptation solutions in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Uganda. The report outlines the barriers and opportunities for investment in climate adaptation technologies in East Africa, as well as pathways for impact investors to fund innovative adaptation technologies in the sectors most impacted by the climate crisis: agriculture, health, and infrastructure."

"Backed by a unique database of over 255 African companies supported by I&P and insights from two decades of experience in impact investing, we highlight the critical role of formal SMEs in driving sustainable and inclusive growth in sub-Saharan Africa, how SMEs face barriers to accessing traditional financing, and how Catalytic capital offers a solution to bridge this gap. I&P shares insights on improving conditions and availability of catalytic capital, fostering collective learning for more impact investments in Africa."

"The report, aimed at donors, underscores the transformative potential of reevaluating funding for Enterprise Support Organizations (ESOs) and its profound impact on the sustainability and scalability of services that bolster Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). SMEs are vital contributors to economic growth, particularly in emerging markets, offering innovation, employment opportunities, and societal and environmental advancements. These SMEs rely on Business Development Services (BDS) provided by ESOs. However, current funding often prioritizes short-term quantity over long-term quality. The report emphasizes the pivotal role of donor relationships in fostering ESO growth and sustainable service delivery. By analyzing the growth trajectories of prominent ESOs globally and the role of donors in their development, the report provides recommendations for more effective donor engagement to enhance sustained impact. Using the metaphor of trees, it distinguishes visible aspects (services provided) from less apparent ones (culture, governance, finance, systems) and stresses the need for balanced growth across dimensions to achieve sustained impact. Shifting donor practices towards comprehensive organizational development of promising ESOs is likened to nurturing a tree for consistent, quality fruit production at significant scale over time."