Written by Lynn Hamerlinck on 26 October 2020
If you didn't get the chance to participate in our latest webinar or forgot to take notes, we summarized the highlights for you. Our colleagues Thomas Plaatsman and Lucas Weaver talked about the situation and effects of COVID-19 in the emerging countries where our portfolio companies are based.
Lendahand has almost doubled in size in the last 1,5 years. Time for a re-introduction of our team! Starting in this series is our newly appointed CFO: Daniel van Maanen. Daniel joined our company this January (how much the times have changed since then..), has a background in investments and was the CFO at his previous company Aircrete.
It might sound surprising that while the pandemic is affecting economies and households all over the world, solar home systems are in high demand in Africa. But when you suddenly start spending all your time at home, light and electricity become priorities.
Over the past few years, the Lendahand portfolio has diversified significantly. You can directly fund entrepreneurs from several different industries, such as agriculture or solar energy. Additionally, you can also visit our platform for perhaps the best-known form of financing in emerging markets: microfinance institutions (MFIs).
Our newest investment opportunity comes to us from Kenya in the form of iProcure, the largest agricultural supply chain platform in rural Africa.
After almost 10 years I have decided to step down from the Lendahand Board. Thanks to my wife Esther, I had the opportunity to follow my heart and become a social entrepreneur. Thanks, Pipi Longstocking :), for that advice. Without much relevant knowledge or experience, I began on my journey to make an impact in the world, especially those who really need it.
As you may already know, Lendahand, in collaboration with Solidaridad, ICCO Cooperation, and Truvalu, has launched the new platform PlusPlus—the crowdfunding platform dedicated to improving food security in the agricultural sector in emerging countries. Sounds great, but why did Lendahand decide to start with PlusPlus? We’re happy to explain.
The housing market is volatile and sensitive, no matter the country. While this fragility makes buying or selling property complicated enough already, this process is even more difficult for people in developing countries like Cambodia. Most Cambodian households don’t have access to formal housing finance, and commercial banks that do provide home loans generally only offer them to wealthier Cambodians. Luckily, there are some organizations that function as a safety net for these underserved families. A fine example of one of those organizations is our newest partner First Finance Cambodia.
As of today, we are introducing a new partner on our platform: YAK Fair Trade. With this new addition, not only are we diversifying our portfolio of partners, we are also opening the door to an entirely new sector on Lendahand.
Here are some astonishing numbers. Approximately three billion people lack access to clean cooking solutions. They are exposed to dangerous levels of air pollution. On top of that, 840 million people live without electricity, of which 50% live in Sub-Saharan Africa. The United Nations wants to ensure access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy for all. We’re proud to introduce you to three of our partners who do just that.
As we are all tragically aware, a health emergency such as COVID-19 can cause bankruptcy in both developed and developing countries. However, in the Netherlands we are fortunate enough to rely on a social safety net. Also, we are able to physically distance ourselves from one another and work from home. In developing countries, there isn’t space to socially distance yourself. What can we do to ensure healthy lives for all?
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