Three George Washington University graduate students have won the 2024 International Finance Corporation (IFC) Impact Investing Challenge. The competition invites students to create solutions to global issues. This year’s competition asked participants to address the disparate impact of climate change on women and marginalized populations.
Students Anja de Waal and Era Andriambololona, both studying for their master’s in international business, were part of the winning team with Seth Amo-Nyarkoh, a graduate student at the Elliott School of International Affairs.
The students’ proposal outlined the details for a Pan-African growth fund to support the transition of seaweed farming businesses into bioplastic manufacturers. Their ideas offer a solution that would boost gender equality for women, who represent a majority of seaweed farmers in the pilot countries at focus in the proposal—Tanzania, Madagascar and South Africa—and reduce ocean pollution by developing more seaweed-based bioplastics.