Innovation comes in many forms and from many places. In this issue of IFC Insights, we showcase how families, companies, and governments in emerging economies are at the vanguard of finding solutions to our most pressing challenges.

In India, homeowners are making great strides in building ‘green homes’ that address the growing problem of more frequent and intense heat waves, driven by climate change. Take a multimedia tour of two such homes in the city of Jaipur to learn how building a far more energy efficient home can be both affordable and cost effective.

With 185 million active mobile money wallets, the digital financial services market is booming in Africa. Madagascar offers an inspiring example of how mobile money can be used to reach previously unbanked communities. We also share new research on Africa’s infrastructure, where just 10 percent of investments made in the sector currently come from the private sector. In a new study, IFC economists show how much extra private investment would be generated by improvements in countries’ institutional and regulatory frameworks.

Finally, we look at new IFC research on how to better structure sustainability-linked bonds, which incentivize borrowers to improve their performance on environmental, social, and governance standards, in order to maximize their impact.

Enjoy reading!

–  The Editors