Development finance

Retail investors who want to invest in microfinance in emerging and developing countries can now do so through the Actam Impact Financial Inclusion Fund.

Some of the most rewarding impact investments are where traditional financiers still fear to tread. For an Expert View, we talked to TCX’s Per van Swaay about navigating the minefield of currency risk.

This summer Impact Investor talks to investors and entrepreneurs about how the pandemic shifted priorities. This week: Alexander Plekhanov of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on stepping back from hierarchy.

The UK government’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) provision of a €106mn callable capital facility boosts local currency guarantor GuarantCo’s efforts to close the infrastructure financing gap in Africa and Asia.

TCX, a forex hedging boutique, helped match Lendahand crowdfunding investors with solar developers in Ghana. According to TCX this is the first time that a retail lending platform managed to extend a local currency loan.

In the slipstream of the hugely popular green bonds, social bonds are now also reaching record levels. So what makes the recently launched $177.5mn social bond ‘Financing for Healthier Lives’ special?

BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, has raised more than $250mn for its flagship ‘blended finance’ climate fund.

Confidence in the blended finance approaches pioneered over the last decade by companies such as Finance in Motion (FIM) is growing. FIM managing director Sylvia Wisniwski shares her experience with us.

This summer Impact Investor talks to investors and entrepreneurs about how the pandemic changed their priorities. This week: Mike Debelak of Inclusive Business Sweden.

A $1bn initiative from two powerful philanthropic foundations aims to catalyse investment in distributed renewable energy (DRE) to inject greater momentum in slow market development. We spoke to both foundations to explain their bold move.