In Africa alone, the financing gap for SMEs is estimated at $331 billion.
⚙️ UNCDF deploys blended finance designed for this gap: guarantees that give lenders confidence, concessional loans that make credit affordable, & advisory that helps businesses become investment-ready.
Changing how risk is understood is the first step to changing where capital flows.
📈 UNCDF goes in early. We build pipelines of investable opportunities in markets where none exist, creating the conditions for larger flows of public and private capital to follow.
🌍 Working on a clean energy solution or looking to invest in one in the DRC? This is for you.
UNCDF has launched the 2nd phase of the clean energy programme, w/ funding from the CAFI via Fonds National REDD+.
📅 Applications open on a rolling basis.
Apply here: https://tinyurl.com/2sf2dd4z
📩 185 companies applied.
📄 85 submitted full proposals.
🚀 28 longlisted.
Entrepreneurs across the Congo Basin are ready to scale nature-positive businesses.
UNEP and UNCDF, with funding from CAFI, are working to make sure capital meets them there. 🌿
@unep.org @cafisecretariat.bsky.social
Introducing #BusinessKuSsimuYo 📱
Helping small businesses manage operations, grow & access finance through digital tools.
By UNCDF in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, alongside Outbox Uganda, Women in Technology Uganda (WITU), and Refactory.
Rebuilding in crisis isn't just about repairing what was lost.
🔨 It's about building systems resilient enough for the next shock even while the current one is still unfolding.
🔗 Dive deep in our latest webinar with SINTEF ➡️ https://bit.ly/47NGe3G
🌍✨ A major step for climate resilience in Nepal
With support from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the Government of Sweden, and in partnership with UNCDF, the LoCAL Facility launches on April 9, 2026.
🔗 Learn more about the initiative ➡️ https://bit.ly/3Qtu2yV
Sara almost didn't go. The digital finance training felt like it was for someone else. Entrepreneurs, tech workers. Not a civil servant.
📢 She went. Three days later, she was showing her colleagues how to use mobile money.
🔗 Read the full story ➡️ https://bit.ly/4ccPX4C
➡️ Risk transfer solutions
➡️ $900K DigiKen guarantee
➡️ Inclusive insurance in Fiji
➡️ Green finance in Bangladesh
📬UNCDF's latest newsletter maps how catalytic capital is moving in LDCs, SIDS & fragile settings.
🔗 Read & subscribe: https://bit.ly/4c5JqKB
Connectivity + digital trust 🛜
Vanuatu's Prime Minister recently highlighted UNCDF's role in advancing inclusive digital transformation through two practical initiatives — infrastructure and data security — that are building the foundations of a resilient digital economy.
62,000+ students in Tanzania now learn in cleaner, safer environments.
170+ clean cooking stoves. 45 schools & public institutions. Less wood. Less charcoal. Better air. Better learning.
🤝 Funded by the European Union & implemented by the Government of Tanzania w/ UNCDF.
🔗 https://bit.ly/488ZSah
Big news for climate resilience in Cambodia!💧
MISTI, UNICEF, & UNCDF launched the WISE Programme to bring solar-powered water infrastructure to communities facing high climate risk.
Blending commercial & low-interest capital to ensure sustainable water access
🔗 https://bit.ly/4bBgXdO
🤝 This week, a delegation from Uganda is in Kenya for a peer learning exchange on what it takes to build a digital credit market that is inclusive, trusted, & resilient.
Part of the 10X Programme with UNCDF, Women in Technology Uganda, Refactory, and Outbox, & Mastercard Foundation.
The Government of the DRC & UNCDF, with funding from CAFI and Fonds National REDD+, launched a $50 million national investment programme to:
⬆️ clean cooking
⬆️ energy access
⬇️ deforestation
🔗 Learn more: https://bit.ly/3NE5Ads
@cafisecretariat.bsky.social
Cambodia is taking a bold step: a groundbreaking blended‑finance programme designed to accelerate access to climate‑resilient, safely managed water services.💧
Launched by Cambodia's MISTI in partnership with UNCDF & @UNICEF
Funded by @JointSDGFund
🔗 https://bit.ly/47tmFgW
Bridges reconnecting isolated communities. Water systems communities maintain themselves.
Districts leading their own climate adaptation.
🌱 Powerful takeaways from our session at #UWEWK2026, co-organized with Uganda's Ministry of Water & Environment and Ministry of Local Government.
Recently, stakeholders from Ethiopia's digital finance landscape met to validate findings & align on ways to strengthen the ecosystem for startups serving underserved communities.
FinWise Ethiopia is implemented by Entrepreneurship Development Institute & UNCDF, w/ funding from Gates Foundation.
No formal ledgers. No credit history. No loan.
That's the reality for most MSMEs in Ghana.
📲 UNCDF is backing a different approach, supporting the testing of digital lending models.
With UNCTAD and UNDP & funded by the UN Joint SDG Fund
🔗 Read more ➡️ https://bit.ly/3Ns2Q2G
Climate disasters are becoming more frequent. More costly. And more unequal. 🌊
The communities most exposed are still the least protected.
📗The G20 Compendium of Risk Transfer Solutions offers a roadmap to change that.
🔗 Read it in full ➡️ https://bit.ly/4rSo6wM
This week in Geneva, UNCDF discussed how its Strategic Framework can strengthen the UN Development System & why Switzerland's support makes that possible.
Core funding is the foundation that makes every catalytic dollar work exponentially harder.
Thank you, Switzerland.
UNCDF & the Co-operative Bank of Kenya have signed a $900k guarantee agreement to expand financing for digital platform MSMEs. 🤝
This is part of the DigiKen Programme, funded by the European Union via the UN Joint SDG Fund & led by UNESCO, with UNCDF, UNEP & UN Women.
🔗 bit.ly/4lB3ZkS
UNCDF’s work in Fiji demonstrates how social protection systems can distribute insurance at scale, supported by strong policy backing, long-standing UNCDF engagement, and existing social protection networks.
🔗via a new CGAP case study ➡️ www.cgap.org/research/pub...
In Niger, mobile broadband penetration among women was just 19% in 2022. 📲
Through a $225,000 catalytic grant, Zamani Telecom recruited & trained 11,500+ agents to expand access to digital finance. 🌍
🔗 Learn more ➡️ bit.ly/4dpljay
Climate finance remains largely out of reach for the enterprises that need it most.
📗 With the Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh, UNCDF has released a new report on optimizing access to climate financing for small businesses.
🔗 Read here: bit.ly/4s9AGbN
How do we rebuild communities that can withstand the next shock, even while the current crisis continues?
🎙️ Join UNCDF and SINTEF on 18 March where we will explore strategies for recovery and resilience.
📅 18 March 2026
🕘 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
🔗 bit.ly/3NwI5Tq
After a disaster hits, people can wait months to access the money they need to rebuild.
Risk transfer solutions can change that. When predefined triggers are met, funds release automatically. 📉
🎬 Watch our specialist break it down ➡️ bit.ly/4lHJtPX
On #IWD2026, we thank UN Women for multiple UN System-wide Action Plan Awards.
These recognitions reflect our commitment to integrating gender equality into development finance and investment strategies.
This week, a European Union monitoring team is visiting women-led agribusinesses and community banking agents across Bo, Kenema, and Kailahun districts, Sierra Leone. 🌾
This visit is part of the Salone Access to Finance programme, funded by the European Union.
@ec.europa.eu
“I’ve seen the difference firsthand"
Decimon Anywar, a UN Volunteer with UNCDF, works in Gulu, coordinating climate adaptation investments that communities choose for themselves through the Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility.
🔗 Read his story ➡️ bit.ly/4ciq59o
@unv.org
At the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, UNCDF was formally recognized for its catalytic role in development finance.
🎥 Watch here on how UNCDF is turning that commitment into action ➡️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Tht...
