The second edition of the Oikocredit Live event series, held on 13 June 2023, turned the spotlight on the pressing issue of climate change and its profound impact on low-income communities. The event featured two Oikocredit partners: Norandino, a cooperative based in Peru that supports sustainable agriculture, and BURN, a Kenya-based organisation that designs, manufactures, and distributes fuel-efficient cooking products.

Social impact investor Oikocredit has invested US$1.5 million in a total equity investment round of US$ 2.5 million for Uruguayan inclusive finance software provider Bankingly to support cooperatives, microfinance institutions, and small and medium banks in their digitalisation.

Other existing investors in Bankingly participating in this extension round include EMTV, Elevar Equity, Dalus Capital and Sonen Capital, and new investor Puerto Asís has also joined the round. The new funding will enable Bankingly to deepen its presence in Latin America and boost its market development in Africa and Asia.

Bankingly is dedicated to democratising financial services and to enabling financial health and inclusion for all. It supports financial institutions in emerging markets with their digital transformation, focusing on the development of customer-facing channels like mobile apps and transactional websites.

Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) are the backbone of the global economy. Together, they comprise 90 per cent of businesses and up to 70 per cent of the world’s employment, and they are responsible for half of global GDP, according to the United Nations. 

Their contributions are highlighted on MSME Day, which falls on June 27 each year. The day raises awareness of MSMEs’ contribution to sustainable development and the global economy, and their role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

Despite their prominent role, MSMEs find it hard to access finance. Oikocredit has partnered for many years with inclusive finance institutions that support MSMEs, and its response now also embraces a community-focused approach.   

Oikocredit Canada Support Association (OCSA) is led by a volunteer board of directors.

Though we know them professionally today, we dig deep and ask them some informal questions to get to know them better and learn more about their passions and hopes for the future. 

This month we get to know Julie Scott.

For 70 years MEDA has been focused on harnessing the power of business to create sustainable and lasting solutions to poverty for entrepreneurs around the globe. From MEDA’s first investment in Paraguay in 1953 to today, we’re honored to have worked with hundreds of thousands of business owners and farmers over the last 7 decades. Brilliant, innovative and resilient entrepreneurs who, with access to the right business supports, have lifted themselves, their families, and their communities out of poverty.

So many people have contributed to MEDA’s journey to our 70th year. From donors and investors to business partners, to staff, board members, and volunteers. We haven’t done this alone!  With your support MEDA has equipped entrepreneurs around the globe with access to the resources they need to fulfill their God-given potential to earn a livelihood. 

Register for event: Nov 2-5, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario

In response to accusations of greenwashing and growing regulatory scrutiny, a group of high-powered financial networks is working to standardize the often-opaque jargon of the responsible investing industry.

Driven by concerns that investors are being misled, sustainable investment leaders are hoping to streamline and codify the sometimes-murky terminology of ESG investing (which takes into consideration environmental, social and governance factors).

“It’s very important that we have clear terminology that everyone understands,” says Roger Beauchemin, CEO of Addenda Capital and chair of the Canadian Responsible Investment Association (RIA). RIA is a member of one of the three sustainable investment networks that formed the Collaboration to Align and Refine ESG Terminology (CARET) late last year.

Oikocredit published its Annual Report and financial statements for 2022, reporting on solid financial and social results and other achievements during the year.