The investments from USAID’s Haiti INVEST project are boosting incomes for smallholder farmers. This post originally appeared on USAID Medium. Read the original piece here. By Amelia Mecklenburg, USAID/Haiti English Editor & Carolanne Chanik, INVEST Communications Advisor Saintania is a peanut grower based in Mirebalais, Haiti, and one of more…

This post originally appeared on ImpactAlpha. Read the original piece here. By Stevie Smyth Valdez, Executive Director of SVX Mexico, and Mauricio Martinez Miramontes, Partnerships Coordinator at La Mano del Mono The theme of this year’s Earth Day is “Invest in our planet.” We’ve all heard the argument: governments, NGOs…

Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) is an international economic development organization that creates business solutions to the challenges presented by long-standing poverty. Through USAID INVEST, MEDA and a consortium of partners are testing approaches and providing practical solutions to help female entrepreneurs access finance in Rwanda and Kenya. Katelynn Folkerts…

The Women’s Investment Club of Senegal started out with four women who wanted to pool their resources and invest together in promising women entrepreneurs. Now, with support from USAID INVEST, the collective of more than 100 women is raising money from external investors too, through the first investment fund dedicated…

This post originally appeared on ImpactAlpha. Read the original piece here. By Sindi Mabaso-Koyana and Jesmane Boggenpoel, Managing Partners at AIH Capital, and Madichaba Nhlumayo, Founder and Partner at Ditiro Capital Africa is transforming. Many investors are interested in the continent’s rapid urbanization and spending power of its larger, more…

South Africa-based investment firm Secha Capital has teamed up with Womvest, a network connecting women entrepreneurs and investors, to pilot a gender debt fund that provides small amounts of working capital financing for businesses in Secha’s pipeline. Companies that achieve gender-related impact targets will receive discounts on their loans. This…

This post originally appeared on ImpactAlpha. Read the original piece here. By Kristin Kelly Jangraw, INVEST Communications Director Investors are showing increased interest in gender-smart investment strategies, given COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on women and the growing desire to “build back better” as inclusively as possible. There is plenty of evidence…

Durreen Shahnaz is the Founder and CEO of Impact Investment Exchange (IIX), a Singapore-based impact firm that builds pathways to connect underserved communities through impact investing. Through USAID INVEST, IIX is working to source, review, and validate opportunities for blended finance in Indonesia. In this interview, Shahnaz discusses the challenges…

This post originally appeared on NextBillion. Read the original piece here. By Melanie de Nysschen, Program Manager at Southern African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (SAVCA), and Yeabsira Zewdie, Associate Director at MiDA Advisors The doors to financial empowerment and inclusion are typically shut to women entrepreneurs. Greater access…