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‘Internet Access is Like Oxygen’: Converging Connectivity and Energy Access
Microsoft’s Affordable Access Initiative is providing grants to internet access and related services companies and startups reaching underserved communities in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and North America. In June, the tech giant announced the second year of grantees. Paul Garnett, senior director of the Affordable Access Initiative at Microsoft, explores how internet connectivity can have a ripple effect.
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- Agriculture, Energy, Technology
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Transforming Waste Management, and Waste-Pickers’ Prospects, in Bengaluru
In February, Ennovent Global's Impact Investment Holding invested in Hasiru Dala Innovations, a Bengaluru-based company offering waste management services. The firm's initiatives, centered on the circular economy principle, provide waste management and urban gardening services and products, and also help ensure the livelihoods of waste-pickers, improve facilities for Bengaluru residents and divert over 90 percent of waste from landfills.
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- Entrepreneurship, Environment, Investing
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Enhancing Access to Finance for Women Entrepreneurs – What Should Financial Institutions Do?
IFC determined that 70 percent of women entrepreneurs are un(der)served and face a USD $300 billion annual credit deficit. Anup Singh and Christine Wanjiru Gachui of MicroSave make the case for banks extending credit to women, who end up being roughly twice as profitable for them as men.
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- Entrepreneurship, Financial Inclusion
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The Future of Microfinance is Mobile: FinTech Resolves Three Key Obstacles of Lending to the Unbanked
The microfinance industry has arrived at a new inflection point, according to Frederic Nze, CEO and founder of U.K.-based digital microlender Oakam. Those businesses that are slow to embrace the transformative power of smartphone technology will feel the full force of disruption over the next decade while access to fair, affordable retail financial services will flourish for consumers and small enterprises the world over.
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- Financial Inclusion, Technology
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ShelterTech Mexico 2017: Promoting Entrepreneurship and Investment in the Housing Sector
Habitat for Humanity, in partnership with Village Capital, launched ShelterTech Mexico 2017, a three-month accelerator focused on housing sector startups that are increasing access for marginalized communities to basic services in any of three areas: water and sanitation, energy, and innovative construction materials. Melva Flores talks about the two teams selected by their peers to receive an investment of US $50,000 each.
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- Energy, Entrepreneurship
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