All Publications

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  Smart Villages in Azerbaijan – A Framework for Analysis and Roadmap

  PUBLISHED: April, 2021

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  Social Enterprises as Job Creators in Africa – A 3 Part Siemens Stiftung Report. Enabled by Intellecap. 2020

  PUBLISHED: April, 2021

  Tags: #IntellecapAfrica #SocialEnterprises

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  On the potential of GLI to further women’s economic and social empowerment – An assessment of women-focused enterprises in South East Asia and East Africa

  PUBLISHED: March, 2021

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• 

  Decentralised Solar Refrigeration: Opportunities in the Livelihood Appliances Market in India

  PUBLISHED: January, 2021

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  Recent Agri Market Reforms in India – A Practitioner’s Perspective 2021: White Paper by Vivekanandhan T, Intellecap

  PUBLISHED: January, 2021

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• 

  Gender and Microfinance in Myanmar: A Report by IFC Myanmar in collaboration with Intellecap

  PUBLISHED: December, 2020

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• 

  The Landscape for Social Investments: Sub Saharan Africa Comparative Analysis

  PUBLISHED: November, 2020

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• 

  The Landscape for Social Investments in East Africa : Intellecap Africa and AVPA Report 2020

  PUBLISHED: November, 2020

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• 

  The Landscape for Social Investments in Southern Africa: Intellecap Africa and AVPA Report 2020

  PUBLISHED: November, 2020

  READ MORE
• 

  The Landscape for Social Investments in West Africa : Intellecap Africa and AVPA Report 2020

  PUBLISHED: November, 2020

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Smart Villages in Azerbaijan – A Framework for Analysis and Roadmap
PUBLISHED: April, 2021
This paper is the main output of an analytical and research program aimed at identifying policy options to develop technology and social innovation driven smart village approaches that can improve service delivery and local economic development in rural areas. The concept of smart villages focuses on enabling communities – in partnership with local government and the private sector – to identify opportunities and solutions that are right for their own areas based on demand (bottom-up and participatory needs assessment), on transferring knowledge and innovation, and on policy incentives.
With these three elements in place, customized smart solutions for rural areas can result in greater local economic development with better connectivity and improved services, increased livelihoods and incomes, and improved quality of life. The paper is presented in six sections, each representing an element of the research and analysis undertaken to define and apply the concept of smart villages in Azerbaijan.
The first section presents the context of rural development, particularly aspects which relate to the rural-urban divide, public policies, and programs aimed at advancing rural development, as well as the digital dimensions of development. The second section introduces the concept of smart villages. What does this mean? How do other countries apply this term? What are the core principles and elements? Following from the definition and global examples of smart villages, the paper lays out a framework for assessing the smart village readiness of villages in Azerbaijan, viewing them as spatial clusters and drawing on global big data and national data sources to rank village clusters with common spatial characteristics as the most versus the least ready to apply smart village approaches.
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Social Enterprises as Job Creators in Africa – A 3 Part Siemens Stiftung Report. Enabled by Intellecap. 2020
PUBLISHED: April, 2021
‘Social Enterprises as Job Creators in Africa – The Potential of Social Enterprise to Provide Employment Opportunities in 12 African Countries 2020-2030’ estimates that, by 2030, 1 million new jobs can be created in Africa based on a comprehensive analysis looking at 12 selected countries in the region. However, interventions are needed now in order to support impact-oriented social enterprises (SEs) in creating such jobs.
The study looked at job creating, as well as job inhibiting, factors for SEs based on different country contexts, in addition to demographic perspectives related to the African job market and the quantification of SE job creation potential in each country of focus. At a micro level, case studies on 5 SEs operating in different African countries and in different sectors has been conducted to identify individual supporting or inhibiting conditions for job creation in particular. The results have been used to recommend a set of interventions that would support SE job growth in Africa, including: financial support, technical support, improvements to the enabling environment, and improvements to moderate data availability. Siemens Stiftung is convinced of the concept of social entrepreneurship and the roles that impact-drive entrepreneurs play in improving living conditions. The foundation urges players in the international development ecosystem to support SEs in an effort to meet the demand of these immense challenges.
The study has been conducted and published by Siemens Stiftung and was funded by the Special Initiative on Training and Job Creation of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). The report was enabled by Intellecap.
It is published as a trilogy that comprises of: The Main Report, Country Profiles, and Case Studies.
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On the potential of GLI to further women’s economic and social empowerment – An assessment of women-focused enterprises in South East Asia and East Africa
PUBLISHED: March, 2021
This report is part of a wider study that aims to understand the impact of gender lens investing on women’s social and economic empowerment. It seeks to build a case for gender lens investing in women-focused enterprises through primary research with over 20 such enterprises and over 150 of their women employees, partners and customers across India, Indonesia, Kenya and Rwanda. The research focused on enterprises that either employ women or provide critical products/ services for women, while also engaging with the women employees/ partners/ customers of these enterprises to understand the social as well as economic impact that employment and/or usage of gender-focused products creates on their lives.
The objective is to bring out the potential for contributing towards the empowerment of women employees, value-chain-participants and customers of such businesses, by investing in them (with a gender lens) so that they become more visible as a target segment for gender lens investors. To this end, the report brings out stories of impact on women’s agency, leadership skills, improved support structures and renewed aspirations.
The report concludes by building on existing gender evaluation toolkits and posits a framework of questions which can guide financial institutions and incubator/ accelerator programs on factors that will improve their level of awareness about GLI beyond women entrepreneurship/leadership, integrate gender-sensitive parameters in their evaluation frameworks, and reorient operational aspects to ultimately channel both financial and non-financial support with a gender lens.
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Decentralised Solar Refrigeration: Opportunities in the Livelihood Appliances Market in India
PUBLISHED: January, 2021
This report is the outcome of a study carried out by Intellecap, supported by GOGLA. It aims to generate evidential information on the potential of off-grid solar refrigeration across key market segments (healthcare, households, micro-enterprises, farm-gate, and dairy) in India. It also maps the existing ecosystem of the off-grid solar refrigerator sector and provides recommendations to support market development of this sector.
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Recent Agri Market Reforms in India – A Practitioner’s Perspective 2021: White Paper by Vivekanandhan T, Intellecap
PUBLISHED: January, 2021
Government of India (GOI) had recently enacted three acts related to agriculture marketing in the country; these acts have come closely on the heels of other agriculture related measures from the government.
These measures together form a part of government’s larger mission to double farmers’ income by 2022-23. In this backdrop Intellecap had organized a panel discussion on the recent agriculture market reforms; the session was organized as a part of Intellecap virtual Sankalp Global Summit 2020.
The panel discussion titled “Recent Agri reforms- Shifting grounds for FPOs, Agri startups, and Philanthropic capital” was organized on 2^nd November 2020. The panel consisted of experts  from i) World bank ii)  NGOs working with small holder farmers and FPO formation iii) Agri e-market makers and iv) Agri start up working with FPOs.
The perspectives and some deep insights on topical issues are synthesized and presented under following categories: a) Small and Marginal Farmers’ perspectives; b) Production system perspectives; c) FPO perspectives; d) Agri market place perspectives; and e) Agri startup perspectives and f) Other ecosystem perspectives.  This document titled “Recent Agri reforms in India- Practitioners’ perspective” aims to take these insights to a wider audience and to take forward some of the pertinent issues for further policy deliberations.
Snapshot of the insights
Small & Marginal farmers’ perspectives: 
• Agri market reforms alone will have little effect on small and marginal farmers as many of them are in to subsistence production
• The provisions under contract farming and the infrastructure development support available under Agriculture Infrastructure Fund have the right incentives to move small & marginal farmers from subsistence cereal crop to commercial cash crop farming.
Production system perspectives:
• Agri market reforms by the Government of India have adopted a market led approach for development of production & marketing infrastructure
• Though the recent agri reforms have paved way for market players to invest in improving production & marketing infrastructure, however they cannot completely replace the deficit public investment long overdue in the agriculture sector.
FPO perspectives:
• Agri market reforms have increased FPOs’ ease of transaction with farmers and FPOs are now increasingly recognized as entities that represent the collective interests of their member farmers (in contrast to a private enterprise)
• Though the FPO formation has been taken up aggressively by the Government of India, however the sustainability of these business enterprises still remains largely unaddressed
• The role of support ecosystems become critical for sustainability of FPOs beyond government’s mission mode of FPO formation
• As market forces are ruthless and weed out players who aren’t resource efficient , any form of government support or ecosystem support are only a necessary condition but not a sufficient condition for FPOs to prosper
• Alternatively established corporates and business houses can co-opt FPOs in to their supply/distribution chain and can help them to build capacities & create efficiencies.
• There are successful working models of joint ventures between FPOs & large private players that are creating value for farmers at the same time competing successfully with other players in the market
Agri market place perspectives
• By limiting the role of APMC, the Government of India has created a policy push for “one nation one market” initiatives
• APMC mandis played a critical role in price discovery for certain essential commodities. The price discovery mechanisms that shall play out in the new age markets will require further attention.
• As the agri market reforms have now enabled direct procurement from farmers, there is an increasing need for legal provisions & legal counsel to protect farmers in the case of buyers not honoring payments.
• Though the New Farm Acts, 2020 have defined aspects of e-trade however crucial elements like e-marketing and e-market places have not been covered.
• New age agri market players in their pursuit of higher margins, may end up taking multiple position in the agri value chain, thereby creating “conflict of interest” or/and “concentration of risk”
• These forces may lead to market failures which in turn has the potential to destroy the trust in the functioning of agriculture markets
Agri start-up perspectives:
• Like in the case of FPOs the agri market reform have also enable Agri start up to deal directly with farmers, thereby reducing the transaction cost and time
• The agri market reforms have also created an opportunity for all types of private enterprises including agri startups to participate in primary agriculture production and primary agriculture marketing
• As agriculture markets are getting liberalized, there is a need for a market regulator to create level playing field and prevent creation of oligopolies and other forms of collusion
Other ecosystem perspectives:
• Among the different set of private players, corporates and large enterprises are better positioned to make investments in improving agriculture infrastructure
• Though the agri market reform have created sufficient incentives to attract private investment, there are limited use cases readily available for private investment
• It is also worthwhile to observe how the existing value chain players consolidate their positions and take advantage of the emerging new age value chains.
• In the recent past organized markets like cotton has suffered from the influence of speculative market forces, which have found their way to influence commodity prices.
• As farmers are the most vulnerable, there is a need for agencies to protect farmers’ interest from the adversities of complex market dynamics
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Gender and Microfinance in Myanmar: A Report by IFC Myanmar in collaboration with Intellecap
PUBLISHED: December, 2020
IFC’s Gender and Economic Inclusion Group and Financial Institutions Group mandated Intellecap to understand the current gender gaps in the microfinance sector in Myanmar and to suggest possible actions to increase gender equality for MFI employees and clients.
As part of this study, Intellecap analyzed gender gaps in the current landscape of the microfinance sector in Myanmar for employees and clients of MFIs.The study contains findings from a survey of over 1,600 employees from eight leading microfinance institutions in Myanmar, as well as interviews with over 450 women microfinance clients. It sought to examine the gender dynamics in the Myanmar microfinance industry, and outline the opportunity for the sector to more effectively meet the needs of women both as clients and employees.
The findings identify the opportunity for the sector to better tailor products and services to meet the needs of women clients who make up about 60 percent of microfinance borrowers in the country. It also outlines how making the microfinance sector more gender inclusive has the potential to deliver multiple benefits, including improving the safety and comfort of both women and men employees at work; establishing an equal opportunity culture which encourages more women to become part of leadership; and helping to attract and retain talent.
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The Landscape for Social Investments: Sub Saharan Africa Comparative Analysis
PUBLISHED: November, 2020
Social investment is an umbrella term that brings together diverse categories of funders aiming to achieve social and/ or environmental impact. Broadly, social investments include financial and non-financial support deployed via venture philanthropy, impact investing (with a focus on investing for impact), and socially responsible investing. Social investment methodologies have proven to be a powerful strategy to create sustainable and scalable social and environmental impact by enabling diverse social investors to collaborate for a more significant impact on the achievement of the SDGs. Collaboration across different types of capital and investment strategies is needed, referred to as the “continuum of capital”.
Established in 2018, the African Venture Philanthropy Alliance (AVPA) is a Pan-African network that seeks to drive a transformative social investing agenda in the continent. AVPA leverages the experience and momentum gained by the European Venture Philanthropy Association (evpa.eu.com) and the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (avpn.asia) – thriving networks that together have over 800 members in more than 50 countries and are proven catalysts for mobilizing capital and helping members to deploy it more effectively to drive positive change. AVPA facilitates the flow of human, intellectual and financial capital, not only within Africa, but also with the vast network of members across the 50+ countries outside of Africa. AVPA seeks to support the sector through several key service lines offered to its members.
Please read and download our regional social investments landscape reports:
1. The Landscape for Social Investments in East Africa : Intellecap Africa and AVPA Report 2020
2. The Landscape for Social Investments in Southern Africa: Intellecap Africa and AVPA Report 2020
3. The Landscape for Social Investments in West Africa : Intellecap Africa and AVPA Report 2020
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The Landscape for Social Investments in East Africa : Intellecap Africa and AVPA Report 2020
PUBLISHED: November, 2020
The Landscape for Social Investments in Africa, maps the diverse field of social investment across East, West and Southern Africa. In each of these regions, hundreds of institutions are deploying capital to achieve ambitious social and environmental goals.
Social investors include foundations, corporates, family offices, high net worth individuals, sustainability-aligned fund managers, development finance institutions, bilateral and multilateral donors, governments, diaspora, and faith-based organisations.
This report maps the landscape of social investments in East Africa with a deep dive focus on Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, and a high-level assessment of Rwanda, Ethiopia and South Sudan. This report maps these providers of social capital, their investment strategies, and opportunities for collaboration amongst the various investors. Much more innovation and collaboration amongst social investors is needed if African countries are to close the enormous Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) financing gap.
Download Pdf Here


The Landscape for Social Investments in Southern Africa: Intellecap Africa and AVPA Report 2020
PUBLISHED: November, 2020
The Landscape for Social Investments in Africa, maps the diverse field of social investment across East, West and Southern Africa. In each of these regions, hundreds of institutions are deploying capital to achieve ambitious social and environmental goals.
Social investors include foundations, corporates, family offices, high net worth individuals, sustainability-aligned fund managers, development finance institutions, bilateral and multilateral donors, governments, diaspora, and faith-based organisations.
This report, maps the landscape of social investments in Southern Africa with a deep dive focus on South Africa, Zambia, and Mozambique, and a high level assessment of Angola, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. This report maps these providers of social capital, their investment strategies, and opportunities for collaboration amongst the various investors. Much more innovation and collaboration amongst social investors is needed if African countries are to close the enormous Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) financing gap.
Download Pdf Here


The Landscape for Social Investments in West Africa : Intellecap Africa and AVPA Report 2020
PUBLISHED: November, 2020
The Landscape for Social Investments in Africa, maps the diverse field of social investment across East, West and Southern Africa. In each of these regions, hundreds of institutions are deploying capital to achieve ambitious social and environmental goals.
Social investors include foundations, corporates, family offices, high net worth individuals, sustainability-aligned fund managers, development finance institutions, bilateral and multilateral donors, governments, diaspora, and faith-based organisations.
This report maps the landscape of social investments in West Africa with a deep dive focus on Nigeria, Ghana and Ivory Coast, and a high-level assessment of Senegal, Sierra Leone and Liberia. It analyses strategies used by various international and domestic social investment capital providers. This report maps these providers of social capital, their investment strategies, and opportunities for collaboration amongst the various investors. Much more innovation and collaboration amongst social investors is needed if African countries are to close the enormous Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) financing gap.
Download Pdf Here