A key challenge in empowering women in extreme poverty through entrepreneurship is securing access to capital for business growth after training. Small and microenterprises often face exclusion from formal financial systems due to a lack of traditional credit data, guarantors, and financial statements, resulting in high-interest informal loans ranging from 80% to 300%. This report examines the potential of a credit scoring system using alternative data such as peer group (Chama) lending performance and business income to assess creditworthiness. The goal is to demonstrate that alternative data can unlock capital from local financial institutions for women entrepreneurs at scale.

Kenya's waste management and circularity sector offers significant opportunities for investors, driven by economic growth, increasing waste generation, growing regulations and innovations. This introductory guide is the first in a series that also includes investment guides that deep dive into each of the highest opportunity sub-sectors in Kenya’s waste and circularity sector: plastic waste, wastewater, organic waste and integrated waste management. These guides provide further information on trends, opportunities, policies and challenges, as well as further details on the main identified business models and their financing needs and case studies of successful businesses.

This landscape guide is intended to outline India’s current context in recycling and circularity, with a focus on the investment potential, opportunities and business models in the ten most significant waste streams in India. It provides a framework for how investment potential in a waste stream can be determined, which covers five areas that define that potential: market size and growth; investable start-up pipeline; product readiness; policy support; financing needs and gaps. The guide also includes a historical outline of investments and funding in each waste stream and outlines the roles and participation of various types of equity funders, along with the potential and participation of non-dilutive funding options.

The report by the Enrich in Africa Center (EiA-C) highlights the importance of funding innovation ecosystems in Africa to develop scalable solutions for local challenges. It analyzes grant funding data from 2020 to 2023, focusing on the nine largest funders active in Africa, and incorporates insights from interviews with key stakeholders. The report examines both the overall innovation funding landscape and specific funding for ecosystem support activities and organizations. It aims to equip funders and recipients with the necessary data and insights to create sustainable and impactful innovation ecosystems across Africa. EiA-C plays a pivotal role in bridging the gap between funders and recipients by fostering connections and sharing knowledge within the ecosystem.

In Extrapolations, Mumbai in 2059 is depicted as a dystopian city where climate change forces all commerce to take place at night, with people relying on oxygen stations to survive the extreme heat. This grim vision highlights the severe consequences of unchecked climate change, underscoring the importance of climate adaptation. Effective adaptation should focus on maintaining quality of life, which requires urgent investment in adaptation strategies today. The report shifts focus towards adaptation finance, challenging the idea that it is solely a public good with little role for private sector investment. While continuing to emphasize climate mitigation, the report identifies areas where adaptation investments can yield both positive impacts and financial returns. It stresses that addressing climate change is not only crucial for the planet but also presents significant business opportunities. The choices made in the next decade will be critical, requiring unprecedented capital to scale effective solutions.

"Transform Finance is pleased to release a new database for investors interested in Alternative Ownership Enterprises (AOEs). Alternative Ownership Enterprises (AOEs) are firms that significantly shift economic value and decision-making power toward the non-investor stakeholders they impact, such as workers, producers, consumers, community members, or even a non-financial purpose. They include Cooperatives, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs) and many other models (for more information about AOEs and the models described below, please refer to our report: “Alternative Ownership Enterprises: An Introduction For Mission-Oriented Investors”).

The focus of this database is on funds operating within the United States and Canada. We hope this database provides a helpful starting point for deploying capital in a way that fosters an economy that works for the many, not just for the few."

"The Global State of Social Enterprise report examines the transformative role that social enterprises play in addressing some of the most pressing global challenges. At a time when the world is grappling with unprecedented social, environmental and economic issues, the scope and scale of social enterprises are under- recognized while their contributions have never been more critical."

"A previous British International Investment (BII) Insights paper showed that periods of higher private investment are historically associated with more rapid reductions in extreme poverty.1 That does not mean investment and economic growth always result in poverty reduction. This paper draws on the experiences of many developing countries to shine a light on when growth reduces poverty, and when it does not. Its ultimate objective is to clarify the role of private sector development finance institutions (DFIs) in the context of overall development policy, and the need for different forms and sources of investment and support that complement each other."

"Microfinance institutions (MFIs) must balance financial and social goals. When these coopetitive goals are under threat, which goals do MFIs prefer? Based on the theory of myopic loss aversion, our study aims to assess the immediate effect of the 2016 demonetization in India on MFIs and their loan portfolio performance and on unintended social outcomes. Using the 2016 demonetization in India as a quasi-experiment, we find that MFIs had a lower 30-day and 90-day portfolio at risk (PAR) and implemented better client protection terms. In addition, demonetization had a small but positive effect on developing start-up enterprises and serving more clients below the poverty line. Last, we find that MFIs investing in female client education presented a lower PAR after demonetization. Overall, our study sheds light on the unintended consequences on MFIs as a result of the demonetization event, and it provides policy implications for MFIs."

"This article traces experiments aimed at promoting wider adoption of ‘microinsurance’ – small, simplified insurance policies targeting the poorest. Microinsurance is a central element of a wider turn towards the promotion of ‘resilience’ in global development. The development of commercial markets for microinsurance, however, has failed to meet the expectations of promoters. This article traces the ways that the diverse donor agencies, professional organizations and philanthropic organizations involved in the promotion of microinsurance have responded to these failures, primarily by seeking to articulate basic data infrastructures that might make possible profitable insurance operations."