ImpactAlpha Open

‘Entrepreneurial households’ in India + African capital for African private equity

Dennis Price · March 18, 2025

Hi there, Agent of Impact! Welcome to ImpactAlpha Open, a preview of top news and views from last week on ImpactAlpha.

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In this week’s Open:

  • From Bangalore, Shefali Anand reports on India’s overlooked, and profitable, low-income market
  • For the podcast, David Bank opines on Mark Carney, the green central banker who is Canada’s new prime minister.
  • On Plugged In, Sherrell Dorsey nabs a conversation with Climate Justice Fund’s Amir Kirkwood in the midst of the high-stakes green bank battle

Let’s jump in. – Dennis Price

Must-reads on ImpactAlpha

  • Elevar Equity says low-income customers are more profitable – and has the data to prove it. Companies serving low-income households have been collecting data to prove that their customers are reliable, bankable and profitable. From Bangalore, Shefali Anand reports on Elevar Equity’s partnership with Morningstar to create the Entrepreneurial Households India index to track publicly listed Indian companies that offer products and services designed for such families. Check it out.
  • African GPs are trading out their LPs. Private equity, venture capital, private debt and infrastructure fund managers in Africa are diversifying their investor pools. On the decline: development finance institutions and even “catalytic” impact investors. On the upswing: African pension funds, insurance companies and corporate strategic investors. David Bank and Jessica Pothering report from the Collaborative for Frontier Finance convening in Kenya. Learn more. 
  • At SXSW, champions of equity in tech write stories for ‘the after.’ With the Trump administration on the offense against inclusivity, and Big Tech beating a preemptive retreat, I went to last week’s big culture and tech festival in Austin. Champions of responsible innovation and diversity at South by Southwest already have their sights set on what some are calling “the after.” Keep reading.

Agents of Impact

  • Julia Wilkinson, a former partner at Social Venture Partners, became managing partner of Lebec, a woman-led innovative finance and philanthropy advisory firm.
  • Roc USA appointed Fernando Rivera as sustainability manager of construction and development.
  • Sabrina Lee Sanchez joined Acumen as its private partnerships director.

The Week’s Podcasts

🎧 This Week in Impact: Green banker turned prime minister

Host Brian Walsh takes up ImpactAlpha’s top stories with editor David Bank. Up this week: Green banker Mark Carney’s selection as Canada’s new prime minister; what’s at stake in the legal battle over the US’s nascent “green bank”: and, why Elevar Equity thinks low-income customers in India are more profitable – and has collected the data to prove it.

The Week’s Call

🌱 ‘Green bank’ groups plot next moves as EPA attempts to terminate grants (video)

The court battles resume this week in the Environmental Protection Agency’s escalating attack on nonprofit groups that were awarded $20 billion as part of the Inflation Reduction Act to establish a nationwide green lending network to reach deep into rural and underserved communities. “In the coming weeks, we’ll use that time to address what we think is a misrepresentation of the program, and more importantly, of the grantees in the program,” Amir Kirkwood of the Justice Climate Fund, one of eight awardees, told Sherrell Dorsey on the latest PluggedIn. 

Get in the Game

💼 Step up

  • Environmental Defense Fund is hiring a senior analyst for forests in Washington, DC.
  • Rewrite Capital Advisors is looking for a senior analyst for M&A in Vancouver.
  • Mastercard Foundation is searching for an investment manager for the Africa Catalytic Impact Facility in Johannesburg.

Dozens of job opportunities are available to subscribers each week on ImpactAlpha’s Career Hub.

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