Publications

Mar 9, 2020

Bangladesh Journey to Middle Income Status: The Role of the Private Sector

This knowledge piece provides a snapshot of the Bangladeshi private sector, provides a historical context and reviews the public policies that have affected the private sector.

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.

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 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

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.

Nov 4, 2019

Tackling Childcare: The Business Benefits and Challenges of Employer-supported Childcare in Bangladesh

The policy brief presents findings from an IFC-led survey administered to more than 300 employers as well as consultations with more than 75 employees and 40 stakeholders in Bangladesh, including the government, civil society, and care providers, on the benefits, challenges, and solutions for employer-supported childcare in Bangladesh.

Oct 7, 2019

Scaling Infrastructure: Rewa Solar (India)

Sep 19, 2019

Agile Regulatory Delivery for Improved Investment Competitiveness in Bangladesh: Current State and Policy Options

This diagnostic highlights the state of regulatory service delivery in Bangladesh, provides a mapping of key agencies involved in the regulatory process, and lays out recommendations for policy and institutional reforms necessary for strengthening the current scenario.

Sep 17, 2019

Evaluation of Leasing in India

An overview of leasing in India

Sep 12, 2019

TechEmerge India Health Impact Report

TechEmerge is an award-winning program that accelerates the adoption of technologies in emerging markets to drive sustainable innovation in sectors critical for economic and social development. It does this by matching innovative tech companies from around the world with local corporates and other organizations in emerging markets to conduct pilot projects and build commercial partnerships. Created by IFC, TechEmerge’s inaugural program targeted the health sector in India. This publication examines the rationale, process, and impact of this groundbreaking program.

English | 20 pages | 2019 IFC

Aug 21, 2019

Financial Inclusion for Women-owned MSMEs in India

A country-level diagnostic to assess the demand and supply of finance for women-owned Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in India.

May 29, 2019

The Benefits and Challenges of a Workplace Crèche: Employer-Supported Childcare in India

The report presents findings from a survey administered to nearly 300 companies in India and from roundtable discussions conducted around the country. It offers recommendations for employers, the government, donors and investors on how to maximize the benefits to employers, employees and their children, as well as the Indian economy.

English | 60 pages | 2019

Mar 7, 2019

Making Progress: Sri Lankan Businesses Advance Gender Equality

The SheWorks Sri Lanka partnership was established in March 2018. As the partnership completes its first year, this report captures group-level progress toward realizing SheWorks commitments. SheWorks members are spread across Sri Lanka’s different priority sectors, such as garments and apparel, tourism, information technology, banking and finance. This report consolidates 18 members’ learnings and best practices around the recruitment, retention, and promotion of employees.

English | 47 pages | 2019

Jan 25, 2019

Assessment of State of Risk Finance for MSMEs in India

This study aims to assess the state of risk capital finance to the MSME sector in India. It focuses on analyzing the forms, sources and availability of risk capital products, such as equity, venture debt and unsecured debt to the sector.

Jan 25, 2019

Financing India’s MSMEs - Estimation of Debt Requirement of MSMEs in India

This study aims to provide an assessment of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise sector finance in India

Dec 12, 2018

Report—Tackling Childcare in Sri Lanka: The Business Case for Employer-Supported Childcare

The Tackling Childcare in Sri Lanka report highlights how employer-supported childcare can yield business benefits and how it can be a win-win-win for employees, children and communities. The report shows how 10 Sri Lankan employers provide their employees with childcare-related benefits in a variety of ways.

English | 100 pages | IFC

Nov 13, 2018

Creating Markets in Nepal: Country Private Sector Diagnostic

The Country Private Sector Diagnostic looks into opportunities and constraints holding back private sector growth in Nepal, and identifies tourism, agribusiness, education, health and IT as sectors that could play a key role in enabling Nepal’s growth strategy.

English | 104 pages | 2018 IFC

Jun 7, 2018

Cutting Through the Cloth Ceiling

Assessing how IFC’s Work-Progression & Productivity Toolkit helps female workers achieve promotion and boost productivity in Bangladesh’s readymade garment factories

Apr 5, 2018

Case Study: Byju's

How a Learning App is Promoting Deep Conceptual Understanding that is Improving Educational Outcomes in India.

Nov 29, 2017

MAKING AGRICULTURE CLIMATE-SMART: A Business Perspective From South Asia

Accelerating investment in climate-smart agriculture requires governments to create supportive environments, the private sector to commit to greener supply chains, for farmers to adopt more sustainable agronomic practices, and for financial institutions to offer innovative financing models. IFC, through its investment and advisory services, is committed to being a trusted partner and helping clients achieve the results that they desire.

English | 48 Pages | November 2017 | IFC

Apr 21, 2017

Barriers Constraining the Low and Middle Income Housing Finance Market in Bangladesh

Poor living conditions, particularly in urban areas, continue to undermine economic growth and poverty reduction efforts. The need for improvement in the existing housing finance system and expanding access to underserved segments has been highlighted in several studies by different government and international agencies. The Finance and Markets Global Practice at the World Bank Group (WBG) has been consistently working in partnership with GOB, regulatory and apex institutions and private sector players in financial services. This study is a continuation of WBG’s past efforts towards improving and deepening the housing finance markets in Bangladesh.

English | 72 Pages | IFC, 2017

Sep 16, 2016

Built for Change: Inclusive Business Solutions for the Base of the Pyramid

IFC presents five in-depth case studies of inclusive businesses and identifies the common strategies these companies are employing to do business with people living at the base of the pyramid. Ranging in geographies and sectors (agriculture, education, financial services, and healthcare), each company has a unique path but their shared strategies provides insights that can spark innovation among future business entrepreneurs. The case studies are based on interviews with the companies’ founders, chief executive, and senior management.

Sep 16, 2016

MicroEnsure

MicroEnsure has developed pioneering insurance solutions for low-income people in Africa and Asia living on less than $4 per day. Founded in 2008, the company has introduced over 200 types of insurance for life, health, and accidents for the poor, and distributes its products through mobile network operators, microfinance institutions, and other organizations that low-income customers trust. The company reaches more than 40 million customers in 15 countries in Africa and Asia. This case study is in the 2016 Built for Change report which features companies that are employing unique strategies to integrate people living at the base of the pyramid into the companies’ business operations.

Sep 16, 2016

Probiotech

Probiotech is a leading processor and producer of animal health and nutrition products in Nepal. The agribusiness was founded in 2000 and produces animal feed for small-scale farmers in Nepal, among other lines of work. The company improves the productivity of its 12,000 feed customers by offering training on farm management and by leveraging its extensive distribution network to provide high quality inputs. This case study is in the 2016 Built for Change report which features companies that are employing unique strategies to integrate people living at the base of the pyramid into the companies’ business operations.