The Responsible Finance Podcast

Interview with Justin Sykes, Managing Director of Innovest Advisory

In this podcast, we talk to Justin Sykes, Managing Director of Innovest Advisory, a boutique advisory firm focused on the social enterprise sector. Innovest works to bring in private investors seeking both financial returns and a clear and measurable social impact. This positive impact comes through investing in social businesses in some of the most challenging parts of the world using market-based approaches.
 
One of these social enterprises is Kaah International Microfinance Service (KIMS), which delivers Shariah-compliant microfinance across urban areas in Somalia. KIMS, which was recently awarded the Ethical Finance Innovation Challenge & Award (EFICA) by Thomson Reuters and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank.  KIMS has grown rapidly from its first branch in Somaliland and  now covers most of the country, with 11 branches in Somaliland, Puntland and South Central with a cumulative loan portfolio of $8 million that has supported 8,500 micro and small businesses since its launch in 2014.

Interview with Morrad Irsane, Co-Founder of Melltoo

In order to promote financial inclusion, sometimes it is necessary to start with a non-financial activity to reach people who are not used to engaging with the financial sector.  In this podcast, we talk to Morrad Irsane, Co-Founder of Melltoo about their peer-to-peer marketplace, no-meetup classifieds, based in the United Arab Emirates.  Melltoo acts as the trusted intermediary between buyers and sellers of secondhand goods, providing a service that combines delivery, payment, and escrow for transactions and has recently increased the role it can play in bringing greater financial inclusion to its largely unbanked customer base.  

Interview with Dr. Jemilah Mahmood, Under Secretary General, Partnerships at IFRC

In this podcast, we talk to Dr. Jemilah Mahmood who began her career as an obstetrician and gynaecologist before founding an international humanitarian relief organization in Malaysia.  She shared wth us some examples of both the need and the opportunity for Islamic finance to bring a unique approach to humanitarian funding. In addition, we welcome her as a member of the RFI Foundation Board of Trustees where she serves in a personal capacity. 

Interview with Umar Munshi, Founder of Ethis Ventures

In this podcast, we talk to Umar Munshi, Founder of Ethis Ventures, a pioneering group of ethical and Islamic crowdfunding companies that fund government-backed Social Housing development projects in Indonesia. Ethis’ community has crowd-invested in projects to build 5,000 affordable houses in Indonesia since 2015.

Interview with Will Oulton, Global Head of Responsible Investment at First State Investments

Interview with Will Oulton, the Global Head of Responsible Investment at UK-based First State Investments. [more]

Interview with SDG Challenge winner Naureen Hyat, Business Head, Tez Financial Services

Naureen Hyat, Business Head at Tez Financial Services, describes the upcoming launch of a pilot version of the company’s nano-loans FinTech product.  Hyat, whose company won the Support Disruption for Good Challenge at the RFI Summit in Zurich in May, said the pilot would start in selected locations within Pakistan before a final rollout across the entire country.