New Funding Platform.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group has launched a new $225 million platform to help support the growth of digital economies in Pakistan and countries of Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. The platform is intended to build on the IFC's investments and efforts to build tech ecosystems in these regions through initiatives such as the IFC Startup Catalyst Programme.

The tech industry has a lot to offer for Pakistan and these other countries, however in 2021, these regions collectively received less than 2 percent of $643 billion of global venture capital funding. This is primarily because access to capital was harder due to the slowdown in global venture capital investment, Covid, and the rise in food and supply chain costs. Against this backdrop, this is a timely and very important initiative on part of the IFC which will help strengthen venture capital ecosystems and invest in early-stage companies addressing development challenges through technological innovations in climate, health care, education, agriculture, e-commerce, and other sectors.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group has launched a new $225 million platform to help support the growth of digital economies in Pakistan and countries of Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. The platform is intended to build on the IFC's investments and efforts to build tech...