This week: Philanthropy | Vol 3, Issue 27
BRICS' membership, Argentina | Carbon washing, LatAm | BNPL, LatAm | Philanthropy |?Sustainable infrastructure, Costa Rica | Startups make life easier for the disabled... and more.
Dear Readers,
Latin America, unsurprisingly, is one of the world’s major repositories for philanthropic activity. From social inequalities to preserving globally important ecosystems, money spent in the region can make a palpable difference to lives and from a reputational standpoint, is good for business.??
But, from education to healthcare, philanthropic flows are paltry compared to Africa and Asia. Tax incentives and more innovative financial models could help reinvigorate philanthropic buzz in the region.?
Disabled people across the region face serious challenges not just in terms of social acceptance but in employment opportunities, the economic cost is huge – things are changing but not fast enough.?
Many of Latin America’s companies claim to be or be working towards ‘net zero’ – but with wildly different metrics and inconsistent regulatory frameworks, we look at how the ESG-conscious can separate fact from fiction.??
Argentina has applied to join the BRICS; geopolitical aspirations collide with reality – Buenos Aires would do well to remember it is critically dependent on western credit.??
In Central America, Costa Rica is sliding down infrastructure league tables, sources opine on how this trend can be reversed.??
Buy Now Pay Later (“BNPL”) has been taking a hold across Latin America for years but with soaring inflation and tight credit conditions, can families across the region really afford this method of consumerism??
Until next week!?
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Tidings?is a subscription based intelligence service focusing on major business opportunities and risks emerging in?Latin America and the Caribbean. Each week our members access incisive (500 word) intelligence dispatches based upon the perspectives of local experts from our trusted network.
This week
Lifestyle: The reality of 'doing good'?
Latin America's philanthropic future.
Philanthropic activity across Latin America is led by private businesses, foundations, multilateral organisations, and religious networks to name but a few. But in recent years there have been mounting concerns over the efficacy and recipient organisations of this capital. Is a better way possible????Read more >>
Consumer: Making a difference
Can LatAm's startups make life easier for the disabled??
Latin America has made significant steps in terms of infrastructure, legislation and social acceptance of the region’s disabled population but progress still lags that of Europe and North America. A gamut of new disability-focused startups is helping to reverse the trend.???Read more >>
Energy: Carbon washing?
The terminology has changed the goal remains the same.
“Carbon washing”, more jargon meaning zero carbon is now making the rounds across Latin America. But muddled metrics and inconsistent regulatory frameworks are making it difficult for investors to know quite how committed local entities and markets are to reducing carbon emissions.??? Read more >>
Geopolitics: Between North & South
Argentina applies to the BRICS
Argentina has applied to join the BRICS, with Beijing’s endorsement. Unsurprising perhaps given the grouping’s positioning as a south-south alternative to the west’s dominant governance models. Buenos Aires will need to tread a fine line between antagonism and influence, however.? Read more >>
领英推荐
Infrastructure: Building Costa Rica
Sustainable infrastructure in Central America.?
According to the Global Innovation Index, Costa Rica is ranked 71st in the world in terms of infrastructure. The country wants to tap a new IMF-led sustainable infrastructure fund amidst a strained fiscal position.???Read more >>
Financials: By now, Pay later
LatAm's soaring household debt means BNLP is becoming less attractive.
Short-term financing known as “Buy Now, Pay Later” has been popular across Latin America. However, inflation is soaring, eroding consumer purchasing power, unemployment is rising and household debt is becoming increasingly unsustainable. Will BNPL lose its allure? Read more >>?
OUR TAKE ON ...
MEXICO?-?This week, Mexico's?president AMLO?sat down in the White House for talks with US president Joe Biden. Many pundits had expected the meeting to be a little frosty given Mexico’s no-show at last month’s Summit of the Americas, hosted in California. It was cordial but a few things to keep in mind for those wanting to understand dynamics behind the scenes.??
This was?emphatically?not a state visit, rather an attempt by Mexico City to attempt to repair strained relations which is why AMLO’s team were keen to stress Mexico’s contribution of USD 1.5 billion to strengthening the border wall.
On immigration, little is likely to change until congressional elections in November when Democrats are predicted to do poorly. Washington’s policy of pushing to contain Central American migration in Mexico is simply not working.
On trade and business, Washington officials are viewing with increasing alarm AMLO’s continued violations of the USMCA especially regarding energy which his administration has persistently attempted to nationalise.?Indeed, experts calculate that there are almost USD 40 million dollars readied for impending litigation over AMLO's energy reforms. Little surprise that the issue was?not?raised during the public agenda.?
Overall, the visit was a?bit of a damp squib as?Washington gears up for a high-profile presidential visit to the Middle East this week. AMLO’s summit snub did not go down well with the US administration, the general lack of interest in the trip, no joint press conference and little in the way of deals or partnerships announced speaks to bruised egos on both sides.??
"The Tweet?of the week"
“My sympathies to our Dominican brothers, the two owners of L'Aromate Créole, victims of racism from Dominican immigration officials simply because one of them is black and speaks Haitian Creole. NO to racism and anti-Haitianism in the DR.”?–?Dr Claude Joseph.??
Haiti’s foreign minister?Dr Claude Joseph?takes to Twitter to condemn the arrest of two Haitian nationals who run a well-known restaurant in neighbouring Dominican Republic over alleged ties to passport fraud. Barbs are often traded between the two countries; tensions remain high as the Dominican Republic presses on with fortifications over a walled border and the expulsion of hundreds of Haitian immigrants.?
Coming next week...
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