IFC Audio Stories

This episode of IFC Audio Stories delves into the importance of private sector solutions to the refugee crisis. IFC Senior Operations Officer Ricardo Tafur discusses a new partnership with UNHCR that aims to empower refugees and host communities through access to finance and entrepreneurship. Peter Lolem, an IFC Liaison Officer, shares the success of private sector interventions at Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya.

This year's Africa CEO Forum saw 2,200 participants gathering in Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire for the largest private sector assembly in Africa. Co-hosted by IFC and Jeune Afrique, the event placed a strong emphasis on scaling up African businesses and fostering the growth of the next generation of African champions. This episode of IFC Audio Stories delves into the significance of the theme for IFC and sheds light on its implications for women entrepreneurs.

In this episode of IFC Audio Stories we take a look back at the Spring Meetings, with highlights from an IFC-led event on women's leadership and economic empowerment. Listen as industry leaders, including Melinda French Gates and IFC Managing Director Makhtar Diop, share their insights on the urgent need to prioritize gender in this new era of development. As countries around the world face crises that disproportionately affect women and threaten decades of progress towards gender equity, discover how IFC's innovative responses are reaping tangible results.

In the third episode of She Powers Africa, IFC chats with Carol Koech, the Country President for Schneider East Africa. Koech shares her career journey and why she's a champion for African girls to explore STEM careers.

In the second episode of She Powers Africa, IFC chats with Olaedo Osoka, CEO of Daystar Power in West Africa. Osoka shares her experience as one of the youngest female CEOs in Africa's renewable energy space and the importance of building a pipeline of future women leaders.

For the final episode of this Pacific mini-series, IFC talks to Hatanga Managing Director Jay Bartlett about why it's important to demonstrate high standards of governance, and, as the boss, keep an open door.

For more information about IFC's work, please see: IFC's work on Gender in East Asia and the Pacific

In the second episode of this Pacific mini-series, IFC talks to Dame Meg Taylor, former Secretary-General of the Pacific Islands Forum about what it means for women to be in leadership positions.

For the first part of this Pacific mini-series, IFC talks to Vinod Patel & Company Chief Financial Officer Nikita Patel to discuss what organizational resilience looks like now.

For more information about IFC's work, please see: IFC's work on Gender in East Asia and the Pacific

Tell us what you think! How has your organization been resilient during the last year? We would love to hear from you via social media: Facebook LinkedIn Twitter

Bad news is the only news that Manuela de Souza, an IFC communications officer in Goa, India, hears these days. Since a highly transmissible second wave of COVID-19 infections began coursing through India, causing a record number of deaths, de Souza has watched the virus wreak havoc across the country—including her home state of Goa. In an audio story from IFC, de Souza describes how real-time messaging has changed the nature of the national response to the crisis. Technology also makes it possible for de Souza to keep in touch with friends and former colleagues in Delhi and Mumbai, cities where she used to live and work. She checked in with them recently to find out how their businesses and industries have responded to the stresses of the past year. In a conversation with IFC's John Donnelly, De Souza dives into what it's like on the ground in India today and how businesses are trying to stay and become resilient. Find more stories like this one in our IFC Insights newsletter. Click here to subscribe.