I have a deep respect for those who took the leap of faith and went back to their home country after many years – if not decades – abroad. I am particularly referring to those who saw opportunities to step up, make a change and “go back”, after the political changes that struck the Arab region. …
I used to be fascinated by Venture Capital. I used to think that being a venture capitalist is in fact being a vital supporter of entrepreneurs in making their ideas happen. They are the spark, the enablers, the believers. I loved the classes of Venture Capital and Entrepreneurial Finance I took during my MBA, four …
Well …I have to say, I am not super proud of my productivity on this blog for the past couple of years. I could only write seven posts in 2015, although I did publish an article in an “official” peer-reviewed journal that took me quite some time (beside my full-time job that is). The co-author of …
Quite a great step for me as a humble “practitioner” to be published in a “Entreprise Development & Microfinance – an international journal”, with my colleague Desmond Fortes, here Abstract: The dialogue in green microfinance has been dominated so far by academics or donors mainly working on grant-based projects and studies. The view of investors is …
I was having a coffee with a friend yesterday to discuss his idea of a crowd-funding platform for the diaspora, similar to HomeStrings, but focusing on SMEs (and slightly different from Lend a Hand). You got it, it is hard to find a niche in the crowdfunding space and to differentiate yourself. This discussion brought …
I had the chance to interact intensively on the Development (Social) Impact Bond (DIB) for the past year, and I am summarizing here some of my thoughts. I wrote about the trend here few months ago. They are not “bonds” and this creates a lot of confusion every time the topic is brought up. The …
I just came back from India where I visited some current clients and prospects, mostly from the Microfinance space. The industry in India is evolving quickly, and I have hard time catching up even if I try to visit the country once every two months. One constant thing however is the Joint Liability Group (JLG) meetings, …
I want to share here some tips for entrepreneurs, fund managers and various intermediaries who are looking at Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) as prospect funders, lenders and investors. DFIs are not the typical financiers, and I wonder sometimes whether they really form a homogenous category by themselves. As a general definition, I would qualify as …
I was at the final ceremony of the Entrepreneurship for Society ceremony in the Hague when the head of the minor announced the creation of a new incubator at Leiden University to continue supporting new ideas, a very exciting endeavor ..but then I thought to myself ” aren’t there are more people writing about, interviewing, …
I picked up this topic for my first post this year because I have been encountering this question a lot, since my recent work on Development Impact Bonds. By the way, I plan to be a little more regular on this blog than last year, especially with the number of questions, issues and idea that …