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Thank you, Priyanka. Interesting and thoughtful piece. However, rather than lamenting the lack of investors who will accept sub-market returns, let's work on more creative deal structuring. If we can create investment opportunities that meet market requirements, then impact investing can tap into trillions of dollars of investment capital. One promising approach is blended finance, where a philanthropic or government investor takes a sub-market piece to attract large amounts of commercial capital alongside. But (at the risk of talking my own book) I think the real need is more creative financial intermediaries. We can't change the financial markets, so let's change our approch to them, tweaking deals to meet the markets' needs and thereby bringing huge amounts of capital into the impact space.

While it is a n undeniable fact that Digicel is monopolizing the telecommunication section of PNG it is at the same time very disappointing to experience the expensive costs of its services. The foundation offers less than a percentage of the total revenue it racks in annually. I find the foundation somewhat as a advertising or more or less fabricated vehicle to drive a false campaign of its commitment to help in developing PNG. The community projects are blind projects that are carried out with the sole purpose of promoting a corporate giant. The projects are blind because they are proposed and implemented base on assumptions always. The project cannot be termed as impact as there currently is no statistics in PNG that will support any project. The Education department, National Department of Health and the National Statistics Office lack in sufficient updated information that will ensure that projects carried out are necessary and will address the improvement in each sector in the many problems faced in each sector. PNG is a complex country with multi-cultural societies and languages that result in various problems faced in each sector. Without proper statistics nationally I question how Digicel foundation claims to address the issue of development when there is no direction of where to start at the right place and time. To me all these projects lack current data to imply that there is need for such projects. There is no proper evaluation of the running and outcome of these projects. It only comes to question if private public partnership in PNG for development are real or just fabricated acts of assistance that cement companies large profit making agenda in our country.

Very good your blog, an article of value, no doubt an excellent school.

Good to see the Pacific RISE program moving forward and thank-you Priyanka for update on progress of impact investing. Running the EU Coordination Unit in Lautoka, Fiji where we are monitoring a programme of projects to support sugar sector transformation - we get a good perespective on development needs, what's working and what's not working. Impact Investing is another 'tool' we can work with - applicable in some situations but not all. It was not part of the sugar programme but I have no doubt it can play a role going forward. One of the contributions that impact investing can make is the application of greater financial analysis and business model rigour to a given development investment. It encourages us all to 'do the sums' and do more than just lip service to making an intervention sustainable. However, this approach requires strengthened project design, financial analysis and the ability to present a potential investment to both development and non-development practitioners - not an easy task. So very much agree on supporting efforts to upskill in area of project design to boost weak impact investment pipeline. Funding intermediaries to undertake market scoping and opportunity identification is also of value - this is a slow and expensive business for unfunded intermediaries especially in markets where investment opportunities may be relatively limited and deal size modest e.g. Pacific island states.

Hi Priyanka, thanks very much for your great post on impact investment. World Vision is an excellent example of an impact first investor. I work with Pacific RISE, a newly launched Australian Government initiative to create an impact investment market in the Pacific Islands. The ability to use new forms of finance to tackle social challenges is a key reason why donor agencies are piloting this type of program. Pacific RISE has partnered with a number of impact investors to develop their relationships in the Pacific and to fund investment readiness activities with Pacific social enterprises. For example, the Australian Government supported The Difference Incubator (TDi) to facilitate an investment in Tanna Coffee – a Vanuatu based coffee company helping farmers rehabilitate coffee crops damaged in Cyclone Pam. The pipeline of investible projects is a key challenge for investors in the Pacific especially those really looking at more complex activities around social change. These projects need to engage those working on the ground, those in business and those in finance but there is often limited funding available to support finance intermediaries’ work and a lack of knowledge made available to civil society on the role that finance could play. This week we are holding a three day workshop in Suva with 22 amazing women from Pacific gender and women’s rights organisations to better understand the social issues they face, the data they have and where impact investment could play a role. Pacific RISE can then better design our funding rounds to entice finance into this space and bring investors into the partnership. In particular, our workshop will focus on how we could use finance to address gender-based violence in the Pacific. It’s a global challenge and we have found so many different investors, foundations, NGOs and philanthropy willing to work with us to make a difference. We will be updating the Pacific RISE website on our outcomes and will be reporting through our regular blog series on Impact Alpha.

Such a well thought out, integrated approach from two respected and impactful organisations - in two countries with the most vulnerable women and girls in the Asia-Pacific region. Will be really interested to read further as the project implementation progresses, to hear about the on-the-ground challenges. So please to read of Australia's ongoing and critical commitment to women and girls.

Great to hear more about the research being funded under Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development, Tracey - once the work is completed, please do get in touch if there is interest in sharing the findings on the Devpolicy Blog!

Great that these two DFAT funded programs are highlighted in this blog. The mentioned research in Fiji, Solomon Islands and PNG is funded through Pacific Women Shaping Pacific Development and is exploring how women's and girls' acess to menstrual hygiene impacts on their participation in education and income generation. The research findings will be widely distributed.

Great initiative! Really important to see this connection between menstrual hygiene initiatives, reproductive health services and family planning education as well. Anyone who has ever had the extra burden of (non-technical term here...) 'nightmare periods' (i.e. women living with PCOS or endometriosis, for example) in particular would feel empathy for women and girls in this position without access to healthcare, information, products or facilities. Without education and healthcare access, women experiencing problematic periods might not know that they are a symptom of a bigger problem, or something that can sometimes be better managed (i.e. through the use of birth control) -- this 'grin and bear it' approach still happens in developed countries as well, and these conditions definitely impact on school/work attendance. So the connection makes a lot of sense for so many reasons. Also I find it really sad that many girls haven't had any education about menstruation prior to menarche. I mean, I would have been terrified if I didn't know that was supposed to happen, right? So important that SRH education and information is made available -- we live in these bodies, we should be empowered to understand them and make informed decisions about them.

It has been a life long wish to visit the Solomon's. While there is still hope, my time is running out. My great uncle Victor was lost in the Solomon's in, I believe, 1918. His full name, Victor Frederick Augustus Giraud. He was turned down for the military because of poor health he ended up working in the islands. I have his last 3 letters (typewritten copies)sent from the Solomon's, employed with supplying copra and wheat for the war effort. His letters, while having much written on our family, include much on the situation and hardships on the islands. They are very interesting letters, a good read and can be passed on to you. What I am really asking, is if there is any information on his time in the Solomon's and his disappearance. Any effort toward this cause would be greatfully compensated. Byng Giraud

Inequality and immigration is a problem faced in any country of this world and it will hardly have a happy ending.

Hi Professor Howes, Thanks for following up on my question to you (after Andrew Leigh's lecture on 20/4) about the relevance of Acemoglou's theories to China's & Singapore's development in this blog. It's been great exploring this stuff with you & A. Prof. Golley @ Crawford. I'm sad to have had the final lecture of my Masters of Public Policy there today - it was the only year* of my 23 in formal education that I really enjoyed! Thanks :o) (* more accurately, 4 yr part time)