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Repairing Electronics: A Circular Economy Solution for Reducing E-Waste and Building Resilience in Rural Africa
The accumulation of electronic waste is an increasingly urgent issue around the world. And as Sofia Ollvid at SolarAid points out, Africa is ground zero for this problem, since a significant amount of e-waste created globally is shipped to dumpsites across the continent. She explores how repairing electronic devices can help address this challenge while also boosting the local economy, as shown by a SolarAid program that's training repair technicians in Zambia and Malawi to extend the lifespan of solar devices.
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- Energy, Environment, Technology
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Innovations in Last-Mile Delivery: How Automation Can Revolutionize the Industry in Africa
Last-mile delivery is the crucial link that connects businesses to customers in Africa’s rapidly growing economies. As Samuel Odeloye at Motions and Demilade Onajobi at RoadPreppers Technologies explain, it powers major industries like retail, e-commerce and manufacturing — but it's plagued by inefficiencies that are slowly killing the competitiveness of these businesses. They explore how Motions uses automation to address these issues — an approach they believe can transform last-mile delivery in Africa.
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- Technology, Telecommunications, Transportation
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The New Face of Emerging Market Outsourcing: Why African Talent is Primed to Reshape Global Business Processes
The global labor market has been transformed by the COVID-19 pandemic’s normalization of remote work and the resulting “great resignation,” in which high-skilled employees in developed markets have left stagnant positions in favor of more flexible, engaging jobs. As Orinola Gbadebo-Smith at Hugo Technologies explains, this has resulted in a talent shortage in sectors like business services and information technology, leading corporations to outsource increasingly more complex tasks to developing countries where workers have acquired the skills to perform them. He explores why young workers in Africa are particularly well-placed to capitalize on this shift.
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- Technology
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Forget about Mobile Money, Invest in Insurtech Instead: The Untapped Triple Bottom Line Opportunity in Nigeria
Nigeria has one of the lowest insurance penetration rates in the world, at just 0.5%. But as Brian Yu at Shecluded explains, this low uptake means the industry is poised for disruption and growth. He explores how insurtech innovators are addressing the key problems plaguing the sector — namely, a lack of accessibility, affordability and customer trust — and calls for funders to look past their traditional focus on mobile money and invest in the insurtech businesses that are transforming the way the industry serves low-income customers.
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- Finance, Investing, Technology
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Can Pay-As-You-Go Help Clean Up Clean Cooking?
Since 2015, the global focus on clean cooking has grown substantially, bringing more funding, research and attention from policymakers to the sector. But according to Tash Perros at the University of Liverpool, Iwona Bisaga at Loughborough University and Julia Tomei at the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources, progress remains slow, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. They examine some of the reasons behind the inertia that is plaguing clean cooking access, and explore whether pay-as-you-go business models could catalyze progress.
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- Energy, Environment, Technology
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Outgrowing the Flower Pot: Why Just Selling Productive Equipment to Smallholder Farmers is Not Enough
A new wave of companies are bringing equipment powered by renewable, decentralized energy to smallholders, and these devices can significantly boost farmers' yields and product quality. But as Daniel Waldron, Christopher Emmott, Priyanka Dudeja, Paraag Sabhlok and Chris Wayne at Acumen explain, just like a tree growing in a flower pot, this new growth can become a burden if it has nowhere to go. They argue that productive equipment must be combined with market access interventions to truly benefit smallholders, and highlight two innovative companies that are demonstrating the impact of this approach.
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- Agriculture, Energy, Investing, Social Enterprise, Technology
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Understanding Deglobalization: What the Backlash to Trade Liberalization Means for Business Growth and Global Inequality
Extensive trade liberalization, often referred to as globalization, was one of the most transformative economic events of the last century — and also one of the most controversial. As political support for protectionist policies grows, Aishwarya Lakshmi Ratan at Yale Economic Growth Center and Bomi Okuyiga at Yale's Jackson School of Global Affairs share research insights that help illuminate the impact globalization has had on businesses and workers in low- and middle-income countries, with the goal of understanding how they may be affected by the current backlash.
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- Technology
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Addressing India’s Economic Achilles Heel: Leveraging Trade and Digitalisation to Boost Women’s Labour Force Participation
India will soon become the world’s most populous country and third-largest economy, and it is a bright spot in an otherwise gloomy global economic forecast. But as international development consultant Abhirup Bhunia points out, the labour force participation rate for women in India is just 24% — far lower than most countries. He argues that India will not realize its potential if women’s economic participation fails to increase, and explores how the country can leverage international trade and digitalisation to empower women to drive its emergence as a global economic powerhouse.
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- Finance, Technology