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In the final episode of Season 2 of Creating Markets, we talk to professional board member  Soula Proxenos about what it means to lead both from inside and outside of a company. We learn where she found her fighting spirit and why it is important to have not only women, but a diversity of people represented and listened to at the highest level of an organization. Proxenos tells us why diversity is very good for business.  IFC’s Trailblazer’s report IFC’s Women on Boards and in Business Leadership program  

In this episode of Creating Markets, IFC speaks with Sairee Chahal, the CEO and founder of Sheroes, a women’s only social network. Born out of a legacy of women-only spaces in India, with the Sheroes platform, Sairee’s goal is to create peer-to-peer networking across a range of topics from financial literacy to health and wellbeing. She tackles the challenge of making a safe space for women in the digital age, and notes that when women are included financially, economies perform better. The Sheroes Platform founded by Sairee Chahal IFC’s work in India  

As the CEO of the African Economic Challenge Fund, Victoria Sabula looks for innovative companies to fund. In this episode, IFC speaks with Sabula about what it means to support local businesses across Africa, what investment can do for a community and how to get more African businesses “investor ready.”  AECF Africa IFC’s SME Finance The Kakuma Kalobeyei Challenge Fund

In this episode of Creating Markets, IFC speaks with Santiago Sosa, co-founder of the online commerce platform Nuvemshop about what it takes to start an online business and how to scale it. We also speak about the opportunities for growth and investment in Latin America and how to support small business owners so they can thrive. Santiago Sosa’s platform, Nuvemshop  SME Finance IFC in Latin America and the Caribbean  

In this episode of Creating Markets, IFC speaks with Andile Ngcaba, the chairman of Convergence Partners, a private equity fund that specializes in information and communications technology (ICT). He talks about impact investing and the rewards that have come from decades on the ground building digital infrastructure across the African continent. He also shares the exciting future ahead for a continent that is fast becoming digital.   Andile Ngcaba’s Private Equity firm Convergence Partners A global initiative to connect every school to the internet A pan African cloud-based digital service provider Africa’s first broadband submarine cable IFC’s work on disruptive technologies and venture capital  

In this episode, IFC speaks to Chetna Sinha, founder of Mann Deshi Mahila Cooperative Bank, a bank in India aimed at rural women. Chetna speaks to us about what financial literacy means for women, why it’s important to have access to a bank account, and what financial institutions can do to empower women in India.    Chetna Sinha’s bank for women in India IFC’s Work on Gender in South Asia  IFC’s work on microfinance

In this episode, IFC speaks with Patrick Beattie, the co-founder, and CEO of health tech company Redbird. We talk to Patrick about what drew him to work in West Africa, what it means to decentralize the health-care system, and how to help patients manage chronic disease by putting them in the driver's seat. For more information about this episode visit: Patrick Beattie’s Company Redbird  IFC’s Work in Health Newtown Partners  Founders Factory Africa

IFC talks to Sarah El Battouty, the founder of one of Egypt’s leading environmental design and auditing companies, ECOnsult. In this episode, she talks about charting her own path away from her family’s expectations, and making green buildings affordable, accessible, and respected in Egypt. For more information about this episode, see: Sarah El Battouty’s company Egypt’s leading green building consultancy  Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies (EDGE)  IFC’s work in the Middle East and North Africa

IFC talks to Shuvi Shrivastava, Vice President at Lightspeed India, where she invests in startups in the fintech and consumer tech sector. In this episode, she talks about how she landed on a Forbes 30 Under 30 list and highlights the struggle with self-confidence, both in herself and other entrepreneurs and investors in India, where opportunities for investment are increasing by the day.  For more information about this episode, see: Shuvi Shrivastava’s Medium articles Lightspeed India IFC’s work in India Indian startups answer the call

For the second part of this two-part series on logistics, IFC talks to Imperial Logistics CEO Mohammed Akoojee again to discuss how African nations are planning for the distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine. Akoojee dives into some of the considerations and essential factors that go into one of the biggest vaccination campaigns the continent has ever seen, including vaccine scarcity, cold chains, and making sure the doses are secure.  For more info about this episode, see: Investment Opportunities in Temperature-Controlled Logistics (TCL) – A Series of Notes Investment Opportunities in Temperature-Controlled Logistics Navigating Africa’s New Logistics Landscape COVID-19’s impact sector notes on airports, and on logistics

IFC talks to the CEO of Imperial Logistics, Mohammed Akoojee, about the challenges of the logistics sector in Africa and why investment in tech solutions is so vital for the evolution of the industry. Akoojee also dives into the potential of the new African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and his advice to investors who are thinking about investing in Africa. For more info on new trends in the logistics sector in Africa, see: - En Route to Investment - The African Continental Free Trade Area - The Impact of COVID-19 on Logistics - Investment Opportunities in Temperature-Controlled Logistics (TCL)

IFC talks to Christelle Kwizera about the challenges and rewards of starting Water Access Rwanda in her twenties and the power of skilled storytelling for the success of a start-up. Kwizera also dives into why she’s made it her mission to deconstruct misconceptions about Africa as a market.  For more info on Kwizera and IFC’s programs, see: Water Access Rwanda Moving Toward Gender Balance in Private Equity and Venture Capital Private Equity and Value Creation: A Fund Manager’s Guide to Gender-smart Investing

IFC talks to entrepreneur Aisha Pandor about how she came up with the idea for her business, the sacrifices of pursuing it, as well as how she has focused on building a sustainable company in Africa’s tech industry. Pandor is the co-founder and CEO of SweepSouth, an online platform that connects domestic service providers with potential employers in South Africa.  For more information about the initiatives mentioned in this episode, go to:  e-Conomy Africa 2020 Full report: e-Conomy Africa 2020  Africa Talks Tech: Transforming Africa’s Digital Marketplace (video) Digital2Equal SweepSouth highlights the pay and working conditions of domestic workers (case study)

IFC talks to Getaw Cherinet about how and why he started a water filter company in Ethiopia and why it is important for him to employ refugees.  Cherinet has had an eventful life, but his entrepreneurial story begins in the early 1990s when he fled conflict in Ethiopia and became a refugee in Kenya’s Kakuma Refugee Camp. In this episode, he talks about how he started a business in the refugee camp and how his journey led him to New Zealand, the US, and finally, back to Ethiopia. Here he started a farm and a water filter business called Tulip Addis Water Filter.  To learn more about business and opportunities in the Kakuma Refugee Camp and Kalobeyei settlement, go to:  A Refugee Community in Kenya is Open for Business Kakuma: A refugee camp with its own informal economy (video) The Kakuma Kalobeyei Challenge Fund Tulip Addis Water Filter SNV  

IFC talks to Santiago Zavala about his journey to becoming an investor focused on Latin American start-ups and why other venture capital investors should put the region on their radar. When he started a guitar-related online forum in the early 2000s, Zavala didn’t expect to find himself where he is today. Although he still actively codes, he’s now widely known as one of the main community builders and investors in Spanish-speaking Latin America. Together with his team, the 34-year-old runs the 500 Luchadores funds and is a partner of 500 Startups. In this episode, he speaks to Creating Markets about the potential of Latin American markets. To learn more about Latin America’s private sector, read:  Accelerating Latin America’s Tech Start-ups Venture Capital Funds Adjust Investment Strategies

Two IFC staff, one in Fiji and one in Austria, recount how they and the companies they work with have dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic. In May, IFC’s tourism expert in Fiji, Jessie McComb, and her colleague Damola Akinsowon, an IFC investment officer in Vienna, sent voice messages to the Creating Markets podcast team about how their clients have been dealing with the pandemic, and which of their clients responded with creativity and resilience. Akinsowon and McComb also gave us a peek into their everyday lives during lockdown in two very different parts of the world. 

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) introduces its new podcast Creating Markets. If you’re curious about private businesses in developing countries and investment opportunities in emerging markets, this podcast is for you. For more information on IFC, visit www.ifc.org.