Around 700 million people living in developing countries, mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, lack access to electricity, while several billion have either no power or only intermittent access from unstable, unreliable electricity grids. For these individuals, light and power comes from sources that are expensive, harmful, hazardous and polluting such as kerosene lamps and diesel generators. Founded in 2007, d.light is a for-profit social enterprise that designs, manufactures and distributes clean, affordable solar light and power products throughout the developing world. These “off-g ..read more

An image created by AI (source: Dall-E) Artificial Intelligence, or “AI,” is gradually weaving its way into many aspects of our lives. The other day, for example, I received a peculiar cover letter from a student who had applied for an internship. Something was distinctly odd about how it read: the flow was incoherent and much of the content was, frankly, gibberish. When asked, the student was brave enough to confess that he had used ChatGPT to generate the letter, but then launched into a spirited defense of its use. AI is a technology that will make our lives easier and more productive, he a ..read more

Despite the many successes microfinance has achieved in delivering financial services to the world’s poor at scale, it has often been criticized for the relatively high interest rates it charges on loans. Microfinance practitioners know these high interest rates are not a function of risk but are necessary given the high operating costs associated with making small loans to low-income entrepreneurs in developing countries. In 2015 I wrote a blog post entitled “Microfinance in the Digital Age” in which I observed how technology was profoundly transforming the microfinance business model and wo ..read more

Global Impact Investing Network Investor Forum 2022 The use of environmental, social and governance factors (or “ESG”) in investment decision-making has been in the news a lot lately, for all the wrong reasons. It is facing a crescendo of criticism and multi-layered backlash, which only seems to be gaining momentum. This is why, while attending the Global Impact Investing Network Investor Forum in the Hague last month, I was looking forward to attending a panel discussion provocatively entitled, “The Trial of Public Opinion for ESG and the Implication for Impact Investing.” With such a title ..read more

Plastic Waste (image by craiyon.com) One of my biggest pet peeves is plastic waste. Every Wednesday I place my blue bin filled with recyclable plastics on the side of the curb, but I have no idea what happens after they are collected. It is a mystery. I suspect much of it goes into a landfill, which is depressing. What is the point of separating and collecting plastic packaging if it just ends up in the same place as other waste? Some call it “wish-cycling” i.e., wishful thinking about recycling that relieves a sense of guilt, but ultimately achieves nothing. That is why I am encouraged by wha ..read more

Virginia Gardiner, CEO of Loowatt Everyone has a favorite toilet story, some negative, others humorous, perhaps not as bad as the scene from the movie Trainspotting, but an experience that nonetheless sticks with you. I saw my first-ever squat toilet (aka “Turkish toilet”) in a café in Italy and remember thinking, “what on earth is that?” I recall my father-in-law hated the smell of lavender because it brought back painful memories of the outhouse he had to use growing up in one of the poorer corners of Yugoslavia (lavender was planted around them to mask the foul smells). The point is, this d ..read more

ESG investing is not always what it appears to be Tariq Fancy, former Chief Investment Officer for Sustainable Investing at BlackRock, the world’s largest investment firm, who led the company’s effort to incorporate ESG factors across all investment activities, recently published a three part essay called “The Secret Diary of a ‘Sustainable Investor’” in which he details his journey from ESG investment evangelist to one of its sharpest critics. I would encourage everyone to read the essays, but what I find most remarkable about them is that the criticisms, none of which are particularly new, a ..read more

About a year ago, I posted a story about the pandemic shockwave that was hitting the developing world entitled “MFIs Are Facing an Economic Tsunami. How Will This Play Out?” This is why when I was asked to reflect on the impact of Covid on micro, small and medium enterprises (or “MSMEs”) in the developing world for a recent webinar hosted by Blue Orchard, a leading global impact investment fund manager, I used the opportunity to try to answer with the benefit of hindsight just how has this pandemic played out? The following are key remarks from my presentation: When Covid hit, the IFC and othe ..read more

Tom Chi, Founder of At One Ventures (Photo: Mindvalley) Since the industrial revolution, capitalism has lifted millions of people out of poverty, but with a major caveat. Prosperity has come at a cost to the environment. Humans have always sought to control nature, but control is an illusion if it destroys the planet that we depend on for survival.  While my blog tends to focus on social entrepreneurs finding innovative ways to tackle the root causes of poverty, impact investing is also about business models that achieve a positive impact on the environment. So can business be “at one” wi ..read more

An Indian social enterprise target customer Of all the countries I have made investments in, none has had more appeal than India. While my investment remit is global, over one-third of all the impact investments I have made in the last 8 years have been in India. It is the impact investing hub of Asia. With over a billion people, nearly one-quarter living in poverty, the country faces daunting developmental challenges. At the same time it is the birthplace of many innovative social enterprise business models that are revolutionizing the delivery of affordable basic services to the poor at scal ..read more