Tomorrow (April 22) is International Day of Girls in Information & Communication Technology. The World Wide Web Foundation estimates that Africa, at 23%, has the largest global digital gender gap. Left unchecked, the gender gap in ICT will exacerbate gender inequality in the future.

The world remains in crisis and levels of trust in institutions are low. According to the global 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer people around the world now trust business more than government, the media or NGOs. Will business rise to that confidence in 2021?

The year 2020 has been an unprecedented one. COVID-19 fundamentally changed the trajectory for growth and development globally. As a team committed to unlocking value in Africa, the Evaluation for Development practice focused on keeping apace with these changes, and also anticipating them

It has changed the way we work. It has also changed how we see the world. Our teams in East, West and Southern Africa, as well as the UK, are working together seamlessly. Barriers between us and our clients and partners have fallen away. But, as our chair explains, the lessons of the COVID era for the future go well beyond remote working. A new era has dawned for advisory work, and for Genesis in particular.

Watch the video here 

2020 has been an equally tough and exceptional year. The Shared Value and Impact practice at Genesis Analytics has been grateful to work with many clients committed to creating positive impact. Here are some highlights of the year:

The Gates Foundation and USAID have partnered with Genesis Analytics to determine the impact of AI and automation processes on agri-food systems in low and middle income countries. We want to identify use cases across various regions and agri-food value chains which make use of these technologies. The RFI contains a brief overview of the assignment and a short questionnaire. Please download this RFI to assist Genesis in gaining insights on use cases and examples of the applications of AI and automation in agri-food systems.

The world is going through unprecedented change and to be adaptive during this time is extremely important. Now, more than ever, there is a need to be able to understand how people are being affected by the crisis and how this affects development interventions.

Over the past 18 months Genesis Analytics has been working with the National Planning Commission, the African Development Bank, and local and international experts to put fresh ideas on the table about state-owned enterprises, which continue to underperform, dragged down by years of policy uncertainty, precarious funding strategy, poor governance and political interference.

The principle of “first, do no harm” is one of the promises taken by doctors as part of the Hippocratic Oath. In the time of COVID-19, this principle, now more than ever, should also guide how we as M&E practitioners approach data collection.

The COVID19 crisis is an unprecedented challenge for businesses in the financial sector. In order to help our clients weather the storm, Genesis has partnered with Brad Magrath, a turnaround expert, to bring you in this guest column practical strategies for successfully managing your way through this difficult time.

More than 700 million Africans lack access to a bank or mobile money account and only 41% of Africans are financially included. This is due to the high cost of providing financial services in Africa which forces many financial services providers to remain focused on serving wealthier customers.

The COVID-19 pandemic has a disproportionately negative effect on already disadvantaged and marginalised populations. As you continue to implement and adapt your work to respond to COVID-19, the need to monitor and evaluate developmental efforts is greater than ever. Relevant and timely evidence is required to inform programme implementation.