Search Publications

Oct 27, 2021

Powering the Pacific

IFC commissioned Economic Consulting Associates to prepare a detailed guide to investing in renewable electricity generation in the Pacific. The aim of this report is to promote the development of bankable renewable energy (RE) projects in the Pacific Island countries (PICs) and Papua New Guinea (PNG). It provides a high-level overview of the Pacific region’s RE potential and comprehensive guidelines for investing in the four most populous countries: PNG, Fiji, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.

Oct 25, 2021

Building Resilience Through Digital Financial Services

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the important role digital financial services (DFS) can play in reducing disruptions to supply chains, maintaining economic activity, supporting social transfers and ensuring safe transactions while maintaining social distancing. In these challenging times, IFC’s DFS advisory has worked with clients to build resilience and capacity through the Covid-19 crisis while designing, building and developing innovative business models for financial inclusion. This DFS market research series endeavors to share the insights gathered through this work.

Oct 20, 2021

2020年度CAO年次報告書（日本語版）

IFC及びMIGAのプロジェクトに関する説明責任を担うコンプライアンス・アドバイザー・オンブズマン室（CAO）の2020年度版年次報告書日本語版です。2020年度におけるCAOの活動や成果の詳細をご覧いただけます。

Oct 19, 2021

The Emergence of New Data Ecosystems in Financial Services

This paper provides insights into recent business practices in Southeast Asia and market participants’ views on policy and regulation issues. The research is based on a survey of data issuers, intermediaries, and users (primarily lenders). It focuses on understanding the role of new and alternative data and data providers in making decisions about credit. Some of these new forms of data—including social media data, cell phone data, and data generated from business processes, transactional data, online activity, and others—are being harnessed to support credit-granting decisions. Naturally, a greater number of players now collect, store, handle, and disseminate data relevant for credit-granting purposes, an area that was previously the purview of credit bureaus and credit registries.

Oct 18, 2021

Case Study: Neolpharma

In the pharmaceutical industry around the world, a noteworthy kind of company is stepping onto the global stage. These are energetic, innovative family businesses launched in emerging economies. They often begin as manufacturers of low-cost medications and build their capabilities until they can expand beyond their home countries. One such company, well known in Mexico, is Grupo Neolpharma. It began as a maker of low-cost, generic medications for central nervous system (CNS) ailments, such as Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, migraines, schizophrenia, depression, and anxiety. Its primary customer at first was Mexico’s public health system, which gave it a solid revenue stream. Then it branched out into different forms of manufacturing, including the manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) used by other pharmaceutical companies. Now it is competing through process and product innovation and geographic expansion.

Oct 18, 2021

Guidelines for Blue Finance | Draft for Consultations

Following IFC’s institutional knowledge and experience in supporting the global Green Bond market development and the key role played in the development of the Green Bond Principles, IFC has built on the Green Bond Principles, the Green Loan Principles, and related resources, including the ICMA Handbook for Impact Reporting, to provide guidance on the implementation of Blue Finance. IFC’s Blue Finance Guidance document aims to provide a list of eligible use of proceeds to support private investments aligned with the Green Bond Principles and Green Loan Principles and contributing to Goals 6 and 14 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which call for sustainable water for all and the sustainable development of marine resources. The document further identifies eligible blue project categories that would provide guidance on IFC’s investments to build the blue economy and encourage best practices that can enable the growth of Blue Finance globally.

Oct 14, 2021

Creating Housing Markets in Emerging Market Economies

At the beginning of the 20th century less than 15 percent of people across the globe lived in cities. This figure has risen to 50 percent (4.4 billion people) today and will exceed 66 percent (7.7 billion) by 2050.1 There is a significant shortfall of housing to meet the needs of people moving to cities, most of whom have limited resources but strong hopes for better educational and employment opportunities. Direct public provision of housing is not affordable for most national governments, so more than 1.6 billion people will struggle to secure housing by 2025. Addressing this under-provision of housing will require connecting capital with low-income urbanizing populations, including solutions to make the private sector more responsive to the investment opportunities that urbanization presents.

English | 8 pages — October — Note 106 | IFC 2021

Oct 8, 2021

Creating Markets in Haiti: Country Private Sector Diagnostic

The Haiti Country Private Sector Diagnostic (CPSD) provides IFC & World Bank analysis of growth and investment opportunities, constraints, & policy recommendations.

English | 137 pages | 2021 IFC

Oct 8, 2021

Gender-smart Business Solutions: Maxport, Vietnam

Vietnam’s Maxport Seeks to Grow by Boosting Opportunities for Women Workers

English | 8 pages | IFC 2021

Oct 8, 2021

Gender-smart Business Solutions: Bauducco, Brazil

Bauducco’s Commitment to Gender Equality: A Strategic Approach to Increase their Customer Value

English | 8 pages | IFC 2021

Oct 1, 2021

Women Technopreneurs: The Landscape for Women Technology Entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka

IFC and SLASSCOM report on the landscape for women technology entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka

Sep 29, 2021

Investing in Sustainable Access to Communications

The report contributes to the growth and development of innovative solution providers for telecom sites located in areas with no access to electricity or substandard access by providing insights into the growth perspectives of the TESCO market globally. It also leverages existing investment opportunities to expand digital connectivity to rural/remote areas while reducing the carbon footprint of telecom operators.

English | 90 pages | IFC 2021

Sep 29, 2021

Market Study for Vietnam : Plastics Circularity Opportunities and Barriers

This study uses a plastics value chain approach to evaluate Vietnam’s plastics recycling industry and its role in supporting a circular economy.

Sep 26, 2021

Outlook for Chemicals Manufacturing

This report summarizes insights and opinions of external industry experts, practitioners and stakeholders of the chemicals manufacturing industry, obtained through discussions conducted by IFC’s Global Manufacturing and Corporate Strategy teams during Q1 2021.

Sep 22, 2021

PPP Insights | Street Lighting PPPs in Indian Cities

This IFC sector note provides lessons and examples on scaling up innovative PPP solutions in public street lighting infrastructure across India.

English | 10 pages | 2021 IFC

Sep 21, 2021

Seeds of Success: Stories of IFC's work to improve the lives of women in agribusiness value chains

According to the FAO, women make up on average 43% of the agricultural workforce in developing countries. Female participation in value chains is critical, yet they still face gender-specific constraints and challenges in owning, accessing, and controlling resources that affect their productivity, livelihood, and income. These are stories of collaboration, gender advancement, and women empowerment. Our protagonists have many things in common: they are women, they are farmers, and they have benefited from their participation in IFC and its partners’ initiatives in agribusiness value chains. We believe in creating and implementing Gender-Smart Solutions to close gender gaps in the sector, thus increasing agricultural yields and revenues, improving wages, and helping women expand to new, favorable markets. In our experience, supporting women as agents of change positively impacts the well-being of their communities.

Sep 21, 2021

Gender Equality in Nigeria’s Private Sector: A Gender Gap Assessment of the 30 Most Capitalized Companies Listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX)

More women have made it to the top of Nigerian companies as CEOs and chairpersons of boards than in some G20 countries. However, there are persistent gender gaps at the company leadership level, in the workforce, and in supply chains, which impacts women’s ability to participate equally as men in Nigeria.

Sep 20, 2021

Pakistan Housing Finance

IFC’s latest study assesses the potential market and segmentation for housing finance needs in Pakistan. The study also demonstrates and quantifies the business case for Financial Institutions (FIs) to expand into housing finance across different income and geographic segments.

Sep 19, 2021

The Rakorako Peer Learning Series

This report provides an overview Rakorako peer learning series, showcasing the achievements of the participating companies and providing a blueprint for other private sector entities in Fiji and across the Pacific, and illustrating the compelling benefits to businesses if action is taken.

Sep 15, 2021

Case Study: New Crystal Health Services

With the public healthcare system overcrowded, and the private sector usually catering to the wealthier middle class, New Crystal is helping meet Ghana’s growing health needs, especially for the low income segment, and sustaining itself as a business by filling this gap in demand for care.

Sep 13, 2021

Creating Markets in Ecuador: Country Private Sector Diagnostic

The Ecuador Country Private Sector Diagnostic provides IFC & World Bank analysis of private investment opportunities, constraints, and policy recommendations.

English | 196 pages | 2021 IFC

Sep 9, 2021

Creating Markets in Vietnam: Country Private Sector Diagnostic

The Vietnam Country Private Sector Diagnostic provides IFC & World Bank analysis of private investment opportunities, constraints, and policy recommendations.

English | 123 pages | 2021 IFC

Sep 1, 2021

Food Fortification

Nutrient requirements are frequently not met due to the limited availability and affordability of an adequately diverse diet that includes plant-and animal-source foods. Food fortification refers to the addition of one or more nutrients to a food, during or after processing. The industrial fortification of foods started almost 100 years ago to address diseases/disorders of public health concern resulting from inadequate intake of specific micronutrients from the population’s food base. Due to these early successes, fortification continues to be an important strategy to ensure the required intake of nutrients where they are not adequately supplied by the normal diet.

English | 47 pages | IFC 2021

Aug 3, 2021

Strengthening Sustainability in the Steel Industry

Today, steel is present in virtually every aspect of people’s lives, from homes and hospitals to roads and other infrastructure that provide the foundation for social and economic development. Steel is among the world’s most recycled materials, with circular economy practices incorporated into various stages of the production cycle. Yet the high-temperature heat vital to its production process still requires large amount of energy. Hence, the iron and steel sector remains among the largest consumers of energy and emitters of carbon dioxide, accounting for 6 to 7 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

English | 15 pages | IFC 2021

Aug 3, 2021

Strengthening Sustainability in the Plastics Industry

Plastics are the building blocks of many value chains, including packaging, health care, construction, aviation, logistics, clothing, and increasingly, the recycling industry. They play a vital role in driving industrial development, creating jobs, expanding opportunities, and generating wealth to improve people’s lives. But as the use of plastic has increased, so too have the environmental and social costs. The production process uses petrochemicals as a raw material and generates greenhouse gas emissions. Perhaps the biggest cost is the waste generated by discarded plastic goods. Most of the common plastics of today are not fully biodegradable, and that has created a cascade of environmental, financial, and health problems around the world.

English | 17 pages | IFC 2021