By Emma Rucker This innovative social enterprise has uplifted and empowered thousands of subsistence farmers in Tanzania, and has set their sights further on transforming the agricultural sector in East Africa. There was once a time when Beatrice, a smallholder farmer in Kahe village, struggled to support her family and…

By Camilla Nestor and Catherine Covington MCE Social Capital (MCE) is a catalytic, impact-first investor that provides flexible and timely capital to social enterprises, with a focus on women and the environment. …

Small and growing businesses are engines of economic growth in emerging markets, creating 70% of all formal jobs. Yet these businesses experience an annual estimated financing gap of $930B USD. Commercial banks in these markets rarely serve these businesses because of their size and risk profile — they’re too big…

Elena Pons took the helm of MCE’s portfolio team as chief investment officer (CIO) on April 25. Elena, who worked with MCE from 2013–2020, has an extensive background in managing investment portfolios across financial services and sustainable agriculture in emerging markets. …

Camilla Nestor, MCE’s CEO, teaches a financial inclusion course at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs. Each year the course features a writing competition, giving students a chance to write a blog on a topic of their choice related to financial inclusion. It’s inspiring to see the talent and…

Providing a range of services for smallholder coffee farmers in Nicaragua

Promoting regenerative agriculture in partnership with small farms in Ethiopia

An interview with Emily Stone, Founder and CEO of Uncommon Cacao — Christina Lukeman, Senior Business Development Manager at MCE, sat down (virtually) with Emily to hear about how her love of chocolate and activism led to her journey as an entrepreneur over the past decade, and how MCE’s loans have been catalytic in the growth of her work with smallholder cacao…

Millions of smallholder farmers rely on agricultural enterprises and microfinance institutions as critical sources of income, financing, resources, and market access. …