Malala Fund’s Post

I would like to forward the announcement on the opening of the Innovations Against Poverty Call for Applications on November 15, 2024! New funding and investment support opportunity for inclusive businesses and businesses seeking impact!   The Innovations Against Poverty (IAP) Challenge Fund team is excited to announce that a new round of funding will open on 15 November 2024! This Call for Applications invites businesses in Cambodia, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Zambia to lead with impactful, inclusive solutions.   💼 Apply for grants ranging from €50,000 to €200,000 to drive change in clean energy, climate resilience, food security, women & youth empowerment, and WASH sectors (Businesses in these themes that have an element of financial inclusion or digitalization can be considered), and receive technical and investment raising support.   🔍 Deadline: 15 January 2025 – start early! Register on SmartME and submit your application to be part of this transformative initiative. Each submission will undergo expert evaluation to identify the most innovative solutions.   Visit https://lnkd.in/eAAyvcGC to learn more and apply! Take the challenge, make the change! 🌱💡 #IAPChallengeFund #InclusiveBusiness #CallForApplication #SustainableDevelopment #ImpactFunding #ApplyNow

Friday roundup Last weekend, I took a break from LinkedIn and plan to do so again. I came back from that break to engage in some pretty intense debates that only increased and became more heated as the week went by. Here are the themes: 1. Blueprint for ethical global development https://lnkd.in/eEXmfVqT 2. Increasing irrelevance of ODA ODA even as it struggles go let go of coloniality and paternalism is becoming increasingly irrelevant as a means of financing “development”. Remittances are almost 3X ODA in size. The full study available here: https://lnkd.in/eFr8SkNV My post from several months ago is relevant https://lnkd.in/dPMi46PQ 3. Practical and original ways to finance adaptation and disaster preparedness that take what we know about dysfunction in development financing seriously https://lnkd.in/eP-jAFgp

📖 Ecosystem Insights: Small Foundation has launched its 2023 Impact Report, featuring short videos of several partners discussing how the MSME investment landscape in sub-Saharan Africa has evolved over the years and how together they are addressing gaps and scaling innovations. Small Foundation is an Irish foundation with a vision of a thriving Africa free from extreme poverty. Check out the report: https://lnkd.in/gFmSCJia #SFImpactReport #ImpactReport #ImpactInvesting #ImpactNetworks

Melinda French Gates nails it with these crucial insights. It's time to tackle the systemic barriers holding back women entrepreneurs. By closing the credit gap, we not only empower women but also unlock immense economic potential for everyone. Let's take action to make these steps a reality and drive positive change worldwide. #EmpowerWomen #EconomicEquality

Innovations Against Poverty (IAP) Challenge Fund offers matching grants ranging from €50,000 to €200,000 to businesses ready to scale their inclusive innovations. IAP also offers tailored non-financial support, including business development advice, inclusive business strategy development, and marketing, distribution, and investment readiness training. For select grantees, IAP offers matchmaking with investors and funders, including local and regional investors, as well as access to ongoing investment mentorship.

The National Economic Empowerment Fund (#NEEF) Limited has intensified its engagement with local leaders in the Southern Region, beginning with a series of stakeholder meetings in Thyolo district. This initiative aims to enhance loan repayment, foster collaboration, and support local economic projects. Read the full story on our Facebook page: https://lnkd.in/dft7DXyw #𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐅 #𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲

Child Poverty: Did you know the child poverty rate in the North East Region is 35%? That makes it the second worst in the country and every local authority area in the region has an average rate higher than the national average. Child poverty here has risen faster in the last decade than anywhere else. At the North East Child Poverty Trust we are looking to appoint a Trustee who will be our Chair Designate. Could that be you? Search https://lnkd.in/eh4i_qps

New Funding Opportunity for Inclusive Businesses Driving Impact! We are excited to share that #SNVZambia has opened a new round of funding for the Innovations Against Poverty (IAP) Challenge Fund. This Call for Applications is an opportunity for businesses in Zambia Cambodia, Ethiopia, and Uganda to propose impactful and inclusive solutions: ✅ Clean Energy ✅ Climate Resilience ✅ Food Security ✅ Women & Youth Empowerment ✅ Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Grants ranging from €50,000 to €200,000 are available, along with technical support and investment-raising assistance to scale your innovative solutions. 🗓 Deadline to Apply: 15 January 2025. Don’t wait. Each submission will undergo expert evaluation to identify the most innovative solutions. Visit https://lnkd.in/dd_ec-ie to learn more and apply! Emmanuel Phiri #IAPChallengeFund #InclusiveBusiness #Callforapplication #Sustainabledevelopment #Impactfunding #Sharedvalue #SMEdevelopment

Thank you, Education Finance Network, for having me as a panelist. And, in particular, huge thanks and congratulations to African Venture Philanthropy Alliance (AVPA) for an excellent, engaging, and perfectly sized conference, and for hosting this insightful session. A key takeaway from my fellow expert panelists is that investing in girl education in Africa requires a holistic, systems-level approach. It’s not just about building schools or providing scholarships - it’s about improving family livelihoods, shifting community norms around gender roles and more. Additionally, investors should have a gender lens and use informed metrics to address the specific needs of women to close gender gaps effectively. Importantly, governments must be at the center of this effort, driving policies and implementation at scale. I also highlighted Kumwe Hub's work in investing in low-cost Early Childhood Development (ECD) Centers, an area that predominantly employs women and reduces the childcare burden, enabling more mothers to join or return to the workforce. While often perceived as risky by investors, our goal is to demonstrate, by leveraging traditional grant funding and patient capital to pioneer innovative financial solutions, including returnable grants and low-interest loans for first-loss risk, that ECDs can generate educational outcomes and deliver investment returns. This child-lens investing approach will pave the way for future investors, commercial banks and other financial institutions to finance these businesses, proving with evidence that they are viable borrowers and key drivers of social impact. Maggie Korde, Mauricio Preciado-Awad, Marta Persiani, Emanuela Corallo, Eve Kerubo, Luke Hayman, Patrick Hayden, Andreas Mjelva, Rebekka Øvstegård, Therese Marie Uppstrøm Pankratov, Daniela Fatarella, Adam Berthoud Yvonne Achieng Arunga, Janti Soeripto, Maia Gedde, Michael Prescott, Bester Mulauzi, Jakob Hellman, Celine Gustavson, Laura Jepson-Lay, Thomas Sørensen, Ann Marie Miles, Rotimy Djossaya #CatalyseAfrica #ImpactInvesting #2024AVPAConference #SocialImpact