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Job Growth is More than Digital Job Growth: Why Both Online and Offline Enterprises Deserve Investor Support
The appeal of the tech-driven economy can be hard for investors to resist. But Liliosa Mbirimi at the Leila Janah Foundation argues that focusing exclusively on the digital realm can exclude many offline entrepreneurs that are making major contributions to job creation in emerging markets. She discusses the need for investors to support both digital and non-digital entrepreneurs, and shares learnings from the Foundation's efforts to provide this support in Kenya and Uganda.
- Categories
- Investing, Technology
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NextBillion’s Most Influential Articles of 2023: Announcing the Three Winners of our Annual Contest
As 2024 gets underway, we'd like to announce the results of NextBillion’s annual “Most Influential Article of the Year” contest. This year's contest featured a strong slate of articles, covering a diverse array of topics ranging from systems change to decarbonization, in sectors that included energy, agriculture, finance and more. We've highlighted the three winners, as selected by our readers, in this article.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Environment, Finance, Investing, Social Enterprise, Technology, WASH
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Announcing NextBillion’s Most Influential Articles of 2023: Cast Your Vote in our Annual Contest by Jan. 7!
As 2023 draws to a close, it’s time for NextBillion’s annual tradition: our “Most Influential Articles of the Year” contest. As we've done since 2012, we've selected 12 of our most-read articles from the past year, inviting readers to vote for the ones that influenced their thinking the most. You can vote multiple times — up to once per hour — during the voting period, which will run from Dec. 22 to 11:59 pm on Jan. 7. Best wishes for a healthy and prosperous new year!
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Environment, Finance, Investing, Social Enterprise, Technology, WASH
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PUE at the BoP: Three Approaches To Making Productive Uses Of Energy Accessible To All
Productive Use of Energy (PUE) technologies, such as solar water pumps, refrigeration and sewing machines, are crucial for helping smallholder farmers and other microentrepreneurs generate incomes. But as Christopher Emmott at Acumen explains, the high up-front costs of PUE appliances prevent many people at the Base of the Pyramid (BoP) from purchasing them. He shares some innovative approaches and business models that can enable vulnerable communities to access these life-changing technologies.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Social Enterprise, Technology
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Making Africa the Animation Capital of the World: A Growing Industry Aims to Take its Place Among its Global Peers
Africa has a rich history in storytelling, as the continent was the site of some of the earliest forms of human creativity. But when it comes to animated works, it has historically been overshadowed by traditional animation powerhouses in the Global North. However, according to Abdulrahman Khedr at Egypt-based animation studio Giraffics, that's beginning to change. He explores how African creators are carving out a unique niche in the animation world, gaining international recognition and bringing substantial economic benefits to the continent.
- Categories
- Technology
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Assessing Last-Mile Distributors’ Business Performance and Impact: Using a Diagnostic Tool to Reveal Key Areas of Strength and Improvement
Running a company without business data is like driving a car without a dashboard. But it isn't always easy for an entrepreneur to determine which data is important to track, and how to use it to evaluate their business’ performance. Lucie Klarsfeld McGrath, Alice Magand and Chitraksh Sharma at Hystra share an auto-diagnostic tool they've used in their work with last-mile distributors, which enables companies to identify what's really driving value-creation and impact.
- Categories
- Technology
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From Trash Barriers to ‘Sky Latrines’: Leveraging Entrepreneurship to Address WASH-Related Challenges in Cambodia’s Floating Villages
Cambodia faces a number of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH)-related challenges — particularly in the floating villages and dense lakeside communities around the Mekong River. As Simon Crittle at iDE explains, these waterways are heavily contaminated, causing residents to suffer from waterborne diseases. He explores how iDE is addressing these issues by helping local community members create and monetize waste-management solutions — providing livelihoods for women entrepreneurs in the process.
- Categories
- Environment, Social Enterprise, Technology, WASH
- Tags
- hygiene, recycling, sanitation, waste, water, women entrepreneurs
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Agricultural Insurance + Energy Access: An Innovative Pilot Program Reveals the Value of Bundled Services — And the Need for Cross-Sector Partnerships
As the world works to achieve SDG7, it's becoming clear that cross-sector partnerships will be key to meeting its goal of affordable, sustainable energy for all by 2030. Anshul Patel at Bboxx — a leading distributor of pay-as-you-go solar energy products — shares learnings from the company's recent partnership with Pula, an agri-insurance technology firm, which insured Bboxx customers against the climate-related crop failures that can lead to payment defaults and repossession of their energy products.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Finance, Technology