Persistent

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Key Facts Closed 18 investments in energy access and e-mobility across 16 countries in SSA Four million lives improved by partner companies Every dollar invested in Persistent leveraged 10x in investments into impact ventures Persistent provides seed funding and specialised support to early stage Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) solar ventures operating in underserved markets in Africa and…

Lendable

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KEY FACTS Completed 60 investment deals since 2016, moving more than $37m Raised a $5.2m Series A in 2018 Presence in all sub-Saharan Africa and expanding into South East Asia Lendable connects alternative lending companies in Africa – those providing microfinance, asset financing, asset leasing and a range of pay-as-you-go services – with capital markets…

GroFin

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Key facts Operates in 14 countries across Africa and the Middle East $360m invested in 761 SMEs More than $84,000 jobs sustained GroFin is a pioneering private development finance institution specialising in financing and supporting small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Africa and the Middle East by combining medium-term loan capital and value-added business support.…

Aavishkaar

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key facts 6500+ For every dollar invested by Aavishkaar, its portfolio companies have raised 4x follow-on capital Ranked in top three global social impact funds alongside Dell Foundation and Omidyar Network based on number of investments in 2017 (source: Tracxn) Aavishkaar Venture Management Services (AVMS), part of the Aavishkaar-Intellecap Group, is a multi-product financial services…

GroFin impact report 2017

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GroFin is an impact investment fund manager focused on small and growing businesses serving low-income communities. This latest report provides an overview of what they have accomplished so far and explains their plans for 2018. Shell Foundation partnered with GroFin in 2004 to co-create an innovative integrated solution business model to address the needs of…

Market Insight Early-stage ‘Blended Finance’ for Universal Energy Access in Africa

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Grant-makers, donors, impact investors and development financiers must combine to leverage the $33 billion funding that energy enterprises require to meet Africa’s basic energy needs by 2030. Larger, more agile “blended” finance vehicles – providing early-stage funding at the right time at the right scale – are needed to enable this. The Portuguese city of…

Gender inclusion strategies for SMEs in the off-grid energy sector

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SF is working with Value for Women to present the business case of gender inclusion strategies for SMEs in the off-grid energy sector. The lessons emerging, based on the first 11 months of testing approaches of SF’s portfolio of enterprises explore the potential impact to businesses, including: How SMEs can integrate and adopt gender inclusion…

Achieving SDG 7: The need to disrupt off-grid electricity financing in Africa

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Shell Foundation and Catalyst Off-Grid Advisors try to get a realistic idea of the quantum and type of capital needed to reach the off-grid component of Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), defined as all households with at least a large portable system or a solar home system. Read the report…

Lighting the way for women: How sustainable energy SMEs are adopting new strategies to build gender-inclusive sales teams

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By Rebecca Fries and Stephanie Finigan, Value for Women Clean energy represents one of the fastest growing sectors today. A 2017 report by the Energy Information Administration highlighted that for the first time in the United States, wind and solar accounted for 10% of all electricity generation in the country[1]. According to the International Renewable…

Enabling financial inclusion through new credit assessment models

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Dharma Life has partnered with Shell Foundation and the UK Government to test alternative credit assessment frameworks for rural entrepreneurs and consumers – with the purpose of developing a credit assessment tool that is relevant and scalable in rural and emerging markets. The study explores ways to overcome the challenges in providing credit to rural…