Dear Friends,
Our work on economic development challenges in Israel and developing economies continues unabated and with greater urgency than ever. We continue to innovate financial vehicles to reshape risks and returns catalyzing capital for energy, food, water, health and financial inclusion through our Project Development and Financial Innovation Labs, Fellows training, and applied research.
Glenn Yago and Jerusalem Team
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Milken Innovation Center and Blum Lab for Developing Economies announces Development Finance Practice Fellowship - Class of 2021
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The Milken Innovation Center and Blum Lab for Developing Economies announced the 2021 class of its Development Finance Practice Fellowship. The program enrolls fellows around the world to work with in-country partners in Israel and abroad (central and local governments,businesses, non-governmental organizations, and development finance organizations) to solve various development challenges across agriculture/food, water, energy, education, housing, finance, and health by blending development finance with technological solutions.
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Milken Innovation Center and Blum Lab for Developing Economies onboard new partners!
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The first quarter of 2021 presented us with yet another opportunity to bring onboard new partners to our Development Finance Fellowship program. This year's partnerships are quite unique due to the blended learning approach of the program working with both Israeli and local organizations (bi-lateral and multil- lateral development agencies, NGOs, R & D centers, businesses, tech startups, and partnering universities). The fellows are placed within local organizations in their countries and getting mentoring support from project supervisors.
Our 2021 partners include:
- UNDP Nigeria
- Canna Re, Israel
- BIC Farms, Nigeria
- Grip Capital, South Africa
- Eshet Elion Industries, Israel
- Start-Up Nation Central, Israel
- Solidaridad Network, Netherlands & Zimbabwe
- iLabAfrica-Strathmore University, Kenya
- IMAGES Initiative/University of Ibadan MDP Program
- Blum Center for Developing Economies,UC Berkeley
- MDP Program, UC Berkeley
- FONERWA (Rwanda Green Fund), Rwanda
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem School of Business
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Our Programs & Project Activities
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| Financial Innovations Lab on AgTech Impact Platform (with Syngenta Foundation and Start-Up Nation Central)
The Milken Innovation Center in partnership with the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA), and Start-up Nation Central (SNC) held the Financial Innovation Labs in November 2020 and January 2021 on acclerating high value technologies transfer for smallholder farmers. |
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| ROUNDTABLE: Accelerating Circular Economy Solutions in the Construction Sector
Noam Katzir, one of our Israeli Fellows, organized a Circular Economy roundtable in collaboration with the Ministry of Environmental Protection on the various business models and best practices in recycling and reuse in the construction sector.
Noam also co-authored an article (in Hebrew) on this topic. |
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| SEMINAR: Mechanisms for Conservation Finance
Our Senior Director Prof. Glenn Yago led a seminar on conservation finance for the management and staff of the Rwanda Development Board in April.
The Milken Innovation Center and Blum Lab for Developing Economies are supporting Rwanda in the development of conservation finance strategies for biodiversity, agriculture, and ecotourism assets. |
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| Green Finance Conversations in DRC
In February, the Miken Institute/ IFC Capital Markets Fellows had a zoom conversation on Green Finance with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)’s Ministry of Finance, Central Bank, and Green Finance. The session explored the blended financing options for DRC’s development finance diversification programs. |
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| Milken Innovation Center signs MOU with Strathmore University, Kenya
The Milken Innovation Center has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Strathmore University/iLab Africa Research Centre to collaborate on implementing the Kenyan Development Lab, student fellowships and jointly developed projects.
The MOU builds on the Research Centre’s decade-old commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Milken Innovation Center’s goal of accelerating economic growth, building human capital, and cementing Israel’s role as a pioneer in addressing global challenges in water, food, education, health, and energy. |
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| Milken Institute & Devex Coffeehouse Conversations on Angel Investing for the SDGs
Our Senior Director Prof. Glenn Yago joined other experts at the Devex and Milken Institute Coffeehouse Conversation on Angel Investing for the SDGs on Monday, April 19, 2021.
Other speakers at the event included:
Elizabeth Howard, Ag. CEO, African Crowdfunding Association; Founder, Lelapa
Dr. Frank Aswani, CEO, African Venture Philanthropy Alliance (AVPA)
Chris Schroeder, CEO, Internet/Media; Venture Investor
Raj Kumar, President & Editor-in-Chief, Devex
Allie Burns, CEO, Village Capital |
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| Rwanda: Results-Based Financing in Education and Employment
In March, the Milken Innovation Center in collaboration with our partners at Social Finance Israel hosted a workshop session on Results-Based Financing in Education and Employment. The session was conducted for the Rwanda Development Board’s (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) TVET Unit and the Ministry of Education as the country strives to develop and rollout an impact bond for career development. |
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| Hartman Institute International Fellows Event
Our Project Director, Steven Zecher was a guest speaker at the Shalom Hartman Institute event for International Fellows. Steve spoke on the conditions and programs to combat financial exclusion in Israel in March 2021. |
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| BLOG: What does it mean to leave no one behind?- Fatima Umar, Blum Global Fellow
"In 2018, I got my first development job working as an intern in the UNDP. I remember working through the doors on May 23rd, full of excitement, that finally, my work was going to count for something.
It has been a few years now, and sadly the fantasy is gone. It has been replaced with realism – more questions than answers. The more we try to solve one problem, the deeper we unravel new layers". |
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| BLOG: Connecting the dots of success- Ife- Oluwa Caleb, Blum Global Fellow
"As a son of a smallholder farmer; I have watched my father and his fellow farmers struggle with a changing climate, a shortage of rainfall, and low yields. This inspired me to ask some critical questions:
What if smallholder farmers can be given access to greenhouses technologies? What if we can create special financing vehicles to enable the affordability of these technologies for farmers? Are they partners out there concerned about this problem and in search of solutions?" |
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| Development Finance course at UC Berkeley
The Milken Innovation Center’s graduate-level course the Financial Innovation for Economic Development completed its spring semester class in April with presentations of the student's project implementation plans. The students presented diverse blended projects.
The UC Berkeley Project Implementation Plans included:
Priscilla Luu and Eileen Ung- Capital Structure and Risk Mitigation for Affordable Housing Fund--Bridging Capital Gap for Industrialized Construction and Affordable Housing
Kristine Arboleda and Sidney Chen- Loan Loss Reserve for Zero-Emission Vehicles in Truck Fleets
Iris Cohen- Monetizing Non-Revenue Water Cost Avoidance in Mexico City Water Crisis
Francisco Quiroga and Enzo Auguirre- Financing Columbia's Education Endowment Fund
Barrett Redmond - Gender Bond for Menstrual Hygiene Management in South Africa
George Tian and Shella Zhou- Financing Digital Agricultural Solutions for Smallholder Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
Marine Tardy- Foster Entrepreneurship in the Philippines through Microfinance
Dahlia Hawili, Maion Molinier, and Camille Vasseur - Enhance Financial and Tech Access for Smallholder Farmers in Northern Senegal
Hae Jeong Cho and Shrahey Prasad- Development Impact Bond for Renewable Energy in India: Role of the Ikea Foundation
Nathalie Mutalikanwa & Alain Michel Doricyusa Gabiro- Rwanda Green Bond Initiative |
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UCPCOMING EVENTS & OPPORTUNITIES
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| Call for Applications: Israeli Fellowship Programme
Applications are currently open for our Israeli Fellowship Program. It offers 10 months of paid policy and practice internship in public sector organizations in Israel. |
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| Nigerian Development Lab on post-harvest processing of grains
The Milken Innovation Center in collaboration with the iFair (Israel-Nigeria Innovation Center) is organizing the Nigerian Development Lab on post-harvesting processing of grains in Abuja. The program will be a hybrid event (Live & on Zoom) featuring our Fellow, Fatima Umar’s Project implementation plan on storage solutions to combat post-harvest losses.
The details of the event include:
Date: Wednesday, June 23rd, 2021
Venue: (will be communicated to registered participants)
Time: 2.30pm (Nigerian time)
4.30pm (Israel Time) |
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| Regional Development Finance for Palestinian-Israeli Sustainable Development
The USAID Study Group on Regional Development Finance for Palestinian-Israeli Sustainable Development will be convening on June 16, 2021, following the resumption of U. S. Bilateral Assistance to the Palestinians. |
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| i-FAIR (Israel-Nigeria Innovation Center) graduates its 1st batch of i-FAIR fellows
The Innovation Fellowship for Aspiring Inventors and Researchers (i-FAIR) is aimed at raising a generation of innovators, inventors and researchers in Nigeria through its incubation program.
The 6-months incubation programme provided the participants learning and mentoring sessions with Israeli and Nigerian experts enabling them build their projects from ideas to proof of concept stage.
The next cohort of applications will be announced soon. To register,visit the i-FAIR website below.
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