Search Publications

Mar 9, 2020

Distributing Light and Livelihoods: Solar Products Create Economic Empowerment for Women in India

Since 2014, IFC and Dharma Life have partnered to help grow this network of women distribution agents and to support Dharma Life’s expansion into new geographies within India. IFC provides advisory support to Dharma Life to train its existing entrepreneurs for better impact, and to create awareness about alternative and clean sources of lighting in its areas of operation.

Feb 28, 2020

Accelerating Digital Connectivity Through Infrastructure Sharing

Digital connectivity has enormous potential to support development. Yet today some four billion people in emerging economies remain offline, partly due to a lack of affordable Internet access. Sharing infrastructure among operators and across sectors is a potential solution. It can accelerate digital connectivity at lower cost, especially in the least developed markets where returns to investment can be limited. It can also reduce investment costs and operating expenses for investors and operators, and increase their balance sheet sustainability. Sharing models can also benefit consumers by increasing competition, lowering prices, and raising service quality. The private sector has already embraced this model; further expansion requires targeted policies that promote competition and facilitate sharing.

English | 8 Pages - February - Note 79 | IFC 2020

Feb 16, 2020

Venture Capital and the Gender Financing Gap: The Role of Accelerators

This report studies the steep differential between financing for male and female-led start-ups post-acceleration and finds perceived risk and investor bias are the most likely causes.

Feb 13, 2020

The MSME Voice: Growing South Africa’s Small Business Sector

This report compiles insight from in-depth interviews with small businesses across South Africa highlighting trends from access to finance and business infrastructure to use of cash and banking services, with the goal to inform the design of regulation, creation of tools and provision of financial services that will meet the needs of South Africa’s small businesses.

Feb 11, 2020

Artificial Intelligence and the Future for Smart Homes

Population growth and urbanization in emerging markets will mean expanding cities and rising demand for new housing in urban areas around the world. These trends represent an enormous opportunity to design, build, and operate the homes of tomorrow in intelligent ways that minimize energy consumption and carbon emissions, lower building and homeowner costs. Artificial intelligence will play a pivotal role in this effort by using data—including grid data, smart meter data, weather data, and energy use information—to study and improve building performance, optimize resource consumption, and increase comfort and cost efficiency for residents. AI will also analyze data collected from multiple buildings to improve building design and construction and inform future policy making related to construction and urban planning.

English | 8 Pages - February - Note 78 | IFC 2020

Feb 5, 2020

Food Safety Training Courses

IFC's Food Safety Platform offers training courses based on international best practices

Feb 5, 2020

Vietnam Food Safety Program

Improving Standards, Speeding Business Growth

English | Vietnamese

Feb 5, 2020

Africa Food Safety Project

Improving Standards, Speeding Business Growth

English | French

Feb 5, 2020

Ashesi University

Ashesi University was established to develop entrepreneurial and ethical leaders with the skills to tackle Africa’s pressing challenges and the integrity to shun corruption. Since opening in 2002, Ashesi has taken on a leadership role to promote quality tertiary education and to encourage more centers of excellence in Africa.

Jan 31, 2020

IFC年次報告書2019

Jan 30, 2020

Data in Action: Natural Resources Disclosure for People and Progress

This discussion paper consolidates the findings of D2D’s natural resources data assessments conducted in Colombia, Ghana, Mongolia, and Peru

English | 44 pages | 2020 IFC

Jan 30, 2020

Unlocking Data Innovation for Social License in Natural Resources

This report describes how companies can use new data tools, approaches, and techniques to generate and sustain social license in communities.

English | 40 pages | 2020 IFC

Jan 30, 2020

Creating Domestic Capital Markets in Developing Countries: Perspectives from Market Participants

Domestic capital markets that are deep, efficient, and well-regulated can create access to long-term, local-currency finance. Interviews with market participants reveal four important findings. First, there are two distinct phases of capital market development, an embryonic phase in which the government is predominant and a mature phase in which the capital market starts to serve the private sector. Second, capital market development requires continuous monitoring and policy interventions due to changing market stages. Third, while capital markets are a crucial source of large volume, long-term local currency finance, they often fail smaller countries and companies. Finally, as the capital market develops, intangible or “soft” factors become more important.

English | 8 Pages - January - Note 77 | IFC 2020

Jan 30, 2020

Transparency for Impact: Lessons from IFC Projects in Peru’s Natural Resources Sector

This document is part of a series of knowledge products by IFC’s From Disclosure to Development program.

English | 52 pages | 2020 IFC

Jan 29, 2020

Her Home - Housing Finance for Women

Women make up half the world's population, and half of its economic potential. Yet they are far less likely than men to own a home. That's because women work in informal jobs, are unfamiliar with formal loan-application procedures, or are stifled by traditional cultural norms. This new study sheds light on the women's market for housing finance in Colombia, India and Kenya.

English | 68 pages | 2020 | IFC International Finance Corporation 2020

Jan 27, 2020

Sector Overview | Global Infrastructure

IFC Global Infrastructure Overview

English | 2 pages | January 2020

Jan 27, 2020

Case Study: Indorama Corporation

Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, has abundant natural resources, especially in oil and gas. These resources, when processed, form petrochemicals that are the building blocks of many consumer and industrial products, such as fertilizers, plastics, rubber, and textiles, among others.

English | 4 pages | December 2020

Jan 16, 2020

Electric Vehicles 101

Jan 13, 2020

South African Agri-Processing Resource Efficiency: Opportunities, Challenges and Outlook

IFC, in partnership with SECO and Agbiz, conducted a study on the opportunities, challenges and outlook of resource efficiency in South Africa’s agri-processing sector. The study identified the potential to save up to 30 million cubic meters of water per year, equivalent to 20 percent of the sector’s total water consumption, which will require an investment of $400 million. The study provides in-depth analysis on nine key sub-sectors and the policy framework on water use in agri-processing in South Africa.

English | 72 pages | 2020 IFC

Jan 9, 2020

Building Competitive Sectors for Export Diversification

The analytical report highlights the importance of diversifying Bangladesh’s export base and provides valuable knowledge to take the country’s economy to the next level by better integrating priority sectors with global value chains. The study makes an attempt to identify the advantageous sectors with greater potential to diversify through assistance in the prioritization process, constraint analysis, and sector strategy development, along with policy recommendations.

Jan 8, 2020

Briefing Paper: Enabling Health Technology in Emerging Markets

A briefing paper from the IFC Health Technology Think Tank discussion at the 2019 Global Private Healthcare Conference

Jan 8, 2020

Women Matter: Findings from Sri Lanka's National Financial Inclusion Survey

This document covers an analysis of findings from Sri Lanka’s National Financial Inclusion Survey (NFI Survey) from a gender perspective. The NFI Survey was launched in 2018 as part of the effort to develop the country’s first strategy for financial inclusion.

Dec 23, 2019

Supply Chain Finance Knowledge Guide

The report describes the general ecosystem for SCF, summarizes the best practices that financial institutions should adopt as they seek to enter the supply chain financing market and takes and attempt at quantifying the potential SCF market in Pakistan.

Dec 18, 2019

Artificial Intelligence and 5G Mobile Technology Can Drive Investment Opportunities in Emerging Markets

The intersection of artificial intelligence and 5G mobile technology has enormous potential to deliver dramatic improvements in productivity, efficiency, and cost across business sectors and broader society, delivering innovative products and services not previously possible. Though mainstream applications that combine AI and 5G have yet to emerge, key emerging markets sectors such as agribusiness, healthcare and education will be transformed by the combination of AI and 5G. While many mobile operators remain focused on recouping their investments in previous network standards, there is a growing interest in 5G networks globally.

English | 8 Pages - December - Note 76 | IFC 2019

Dec 18, 2019

Case Study: Tec de Monterrey

English | 42 pages | December 2019