Daniel Waldron

Daniel Waldron is head of insights at Acumen. Previously, Daniel Waldron led CGAP's work on access to energy and safe water. Daniel has seven years of experience in financial inclusion and development, primarily focused on energy access and agricultural finance. He has worked with financial services providers and government stakeholders in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. He has collaborated closely with numerous firms in the off-grid energy space, helping them to optimize their consumer finance and digital collection operations.

Before joining CGAP, Daniel worked as a research analyst for Petrides & Co., an energy investment bank. Other career highlights include serving as a research and data analyst for Better Than Cash Alliance and ongoing work for BFA and Mastercard Foundation on the Financial Inclusion on Business Runways initiative. He also served for two years as an environmental volunteer for Peace Corps Tanzania.

Daniel has a Master’s in International Affairs from The New School and an undergraduate degree from New York University. He resides in New York City. He is fluent in Swahili and proficient in Spanish.

By Daniel Waldron

Blog

Digital Payments Matter More for Public Services: 3 Reasons Why

Water utilities and other public service providers can benefit in at least three ways from digital payments.
Research

Digital Finance for the Real Economy: Introduction

This slide deck describes how digital financial services can contribute to international development across several sectors like energy, water, education and health.
Blog

Growth vs. Sustainability: Credit Risk in PAYGo Solar

Rapid customer growth in PAYGo solar can come with a cost: too many customers that don’t repay. To better understand the realities and challenges of running a PAYGo credit operation, we spoke with heads of credit and risk at PAYGo solar companies, equity investors and creditors.
Research

Taming the Strange Beasts: Servicing and the Future of PAYGo

Despite its tremendous promise, the PAYGo industry is still young and challenging. Entrepreneurs and investors should expect and prepare for some failures. To plan for the future and prepare for unpleasant contingencies, there needs to be more focus on loan servicing in the PAYGo sector.
Research

Digital Finance for the Real Economy: Water

Digital financial services have enormous potential to achieve universal access to safe water and sanitation. This presentation is part of a series that synthesizes what we have learned and our insights into the power and challenges of digital finance.