Finance

African venture and private equity markets often fail to form not due to a simple lack of funding, but because of coordination failures where skilled managers, credible exits, and willing private investors are all missing simultaneously. Development finance institutions can play a catalytic role in resolving these failures, but must carefully time their interventions and design instruments that crowd in rather than displace private capital, supported by more rigorous evidence on what actually works.

Currency volatility in African markets shapes development outcomes by determining who can access capital and on what terms, with firms in shallow financial markets often forced to choose between expensive local-currency finance and exchange-rate risk from foreign-currency debt. Addressing this requires both better micro-level evidence on how FX risk flows through households, firms, and investors, and policies that can expand financing access without simply redistributing risk.

Instant payments can substitute for cash when adoption moves quickly beyond high-income early users. Evidence from Brazil, Costa Rica, and Mexico finds that the key is a rapid low-income gradient: systems must combine low adoption costs, dense networ...

The 1997 Thai financial crisis had far longer lasting consequences for financial access than aggregate measures suggest, driven by bank branch closures that were never reversed even after the broader economy recovered.

Kashf Foundation founder Roshaneh Zafar reflects on three decades of microfinance in Pakistan – from replicating the Grameen model to pioneering gender bonds, micro-insurance, and climate-resilient lending for over one million women clients.

Digital financial services can meaningfully support women's economic empowerment across South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, but only when products are designed around how women already manage money – with features that enable earmarking, smooth liquid...

In India, shadow banks do not compete with traditional banks through a single mechanism – fintech lenders use superior data technology to reach underserved borrowers in unsecured markets, while non-fintech shadow banks exploit lighter regulatory cons...