News & Insights

They both rose to fame decades ago.  One was an Austrian economist; the other, an American engineer.  What can Joseph Schumpeter and Gordon Moore possibly teach us about sustainable finance in the 21st century? One Word:  Productivity Why?  Because our world is...

As we know, the target finish line for the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is only 10 years away. Efforts toward realizing these SDGs – for severe poverty, education, health, agriculture, economic growth, social equality, climate, and other issues – are more...

To attract capital in today’s environment, you need a clear, compelling financing proposal.  With so much riding on this document, it’s startling that so many miss the mark.  This article provides a simple yet effective winning formula. When Michelangelo agreed to...

In developing and frontier markets, the lines between aid, trade, and investment are – once again – blurring. Despite their markedly different DNAs, aid agencies, development finance institutions, export credit agencies, private funds, and commercial banks...

Let’s take a simple, sensible look at Canada’s infrastructure funding needs. The country’s infrastructure funding needs are, in a word, enormous.  Unfortunately, the funding gap between total needs and public monies pledged (federally, provincially, municipally) is,...

The world of development finance is changing in leaps and bounds. Witness the growing presence of major foundations and super-NGOs; massive inflows and outflows of private capital into developing and frontier markets; innovative financial structures such as...

Impact investing is a big deal – not just in developing and emerging markets, but throughout the Western world as well – now, more than ever before. Why? Because financial pressures on companies and individuals have been growing for years, and the ongoing COVID...

Impact measurement and reporting largely remains a woolly science, with a dizzying array of frameworks, benchmarks, and reporting. Within the development finance and impact investing communities, especially, a plethora of approaches abound.  Development finance...

“Social bonds” – an admittedly loose term in developing finance – are quickly becoming one of the Next-Big-Things.  In fact, since 2017, the International Finance Corporation (an affiliate of the World Bank) has issued 39 social bonds totaling more then $3 billion. ...

It’s time for an honest conversation about the elephant in the room. We need to rethink – reimagine -- blended finance.  We need a BF 2.0. Why? Blended finance, in its current form, is in a rut.  According to Convergence’s report The State of Blended Finance 2019,...