Off-Grid Energy Gaining Momentum

Here at ID, we are always excited to learn about innovative developments in the energy sector, specifically in off-grid technologies. In emerging markets especially, there is a real need for efficient, alternative energy products. The following articles detail recent some developments that will help to address this issue.

Calling all energy grid startups for this Hawaiian accelerator’s next program by Katie Fehrenbacher on GigaOm
Hawaii’s Energy Excelerator announced that it will soon be opening applications … read more

Agriculture in Africa

Agriculture employs 65% of Africa’s labor force and accounts for 32% of gross domestic product overall. Of the 65% employed, smallholder farmers produce 80% of Africa’s food. With modern technology, African countries are taking initiatives to change the agricultural sector.

Science Agriculture Estate Programme to Begins Next Year on Ghana News Agency
On November 19, Seth Terkper, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, announced that the Ghanaian government will begin working on an … read more

Impact Investing

At ID, we invest in for-profit social enterprises because we believe in their potential to create impact at scale. However, there are some misconceptions and barriers have prevented social ventures from receiving capital. In this week’s reading we hope to provide a better understanding of impact investing and the work that investors, NGOs, and policy makers are doing to remove the barriers.

Impact Investing Goes Mainstream in Ontario, Canada on Triple Pundit
Today the worlds … read more

Remittances and Mobile Technology

The increase in remittances and money transfers poses an interesting challenge to mobile and banking technologies. We are always looking for the newest innovations in mobile tech for the BSP Fund. Here are some of the stories that caught our attention in remittances and mobile technology this week.

Remittances to Africa carry a high price tag by Tosin Sulaiman on Reuters

As the official remittance flow to Africa has increased to a record $60.4 … read more