Blended finance is making hard deals in emerging markets investable. It drives real infrastructure development where capital markets are thin.

And when the work involves emergency aid and building businesses, you need someone who’s seen how money really works in emerging markets.

Few people know how to make those pieces fit together better than my guest today. Talmage Payne has spent three decades proving that mission-first investing can deliver both measurable social impact and competitive returns.

Talmage is the founder of multiple social ventures across Southeast Asia and West Africa. He now serves as chairperson of TapEffect, a piped water utility delivering clean water to rural communities. There, households pay for the service, and the company delivers an 8-9% IRR.

Today, we talk about how to blend grants, equity, and debt to scale essential services and how smart impact measurement keeps both investors and operators accountable.

Join us to learn:

• What actually drives infrastructure investing success in low-income areas
• Why good intentions aren't enough for viable social ventures
• How to structure capital to crowd in commercial investors

This is a conversation about what actually works backed by real numbers. Tune in.

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• Intro (00:00)
• Growing up in Nigeria during conflict (03:32)
• Moving to the U.S. and exploring big world problems (09:14)
• Cambodia becomes ground zero for real impact (11:37)
• Running aid programs to rebuild the country (15:52)
• Vision Fund turns charity into financial empowerment (17:34)
• Rethinking aid by making impact self-sustaining (20:49)
• Transition to Hagar International’s trauma recovery mission (22:44)
• Launching blended finance model to employ survivors (24:28)
• Struggles balancing nonprofit values and business demands (31:36)
• First Finance founded to enable housing access (35:28)
• Formalizing land ownership through micro-mortgages (38:14)
• Patient capital explained (48:35)
• TapEffect launched to solve rural water infrastructure gaps (49:21)
• AI helps detect leaks and manage water losses (52:43)
• Blended capital enables project scalability and affordability (59:34)
• “Two wallets” expose flaws in giving vs. investing (01:03:14)
• Rapid-fire questions (01:12:01)
• Contact info (01:19:47)

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Additional Resources:

Talmage Payne LinkedIn

TapEffect website