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Weekly Roundup: Dubious Controversy, Outrageous Pricing and Angels in South Africa
Among the week's highlights (and lowlights): Grameen Foundation and Muhammad Yunus make an unwelcome entrance into U.S. presidential politics, Mylan Pharmaceuticals defends itself from price-gouging accusations, and a business angel network launches in South Africa.
- Categories
- Education, Health Care, Investing, Social Enterprise
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Creating ‘Solavores’ By Thinking Inside the Box
Solavore, launched last year, sells solar ovens in the developed world and uses the profits to subsidize clean-cooking technology for the 2.7 billion people in the developing world for whom wood fire is the only cooking option, with the inevitable result: lung damage.
- Categories
- Energy, Health Care, Social Enterprise
- Tags
- climate health, solar
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Curing Silicon Valley’s Myopia: Ross Baird, on How to Change the Narrative Around Investment and Innovation
Silicon Valley is home to some of the most brilliant innovators and deep-pocketed investors in the world. So why are they focusing so much of their time and resources on solving petty problems, while ignoring countless more pressing concerns? Village Capital's executive director Ross Baird discusses the problem and some potential solutions in this podcast.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise, Technology
- Tags
- impact investing
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Beyond ‘Africa Rising’ – The Emergence of the Not-Quite-Middle Class
The past five years or so have seen exuberant studies and predictions that Africa’s rapid growth was creating a new middle class that would transform governance and politics – the optimistic story of “Africa Rising.” But what we really see is not a rising middle class but rather a new group that lives on the cusp of poverty, getting by on $2 to $5 a day, and lacking the kinds of assets, job security, purchasing power and stability we associate with middle-class livelihoods.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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Weekly Roundup: Foundation Under Fire, Hartigan Remembered and Blockchain Unchained
NB's editors pay their respects to social entrepreneurship pioneer Pamela Hartigan, ponder the future of the Clinton Foundation, discuss blockchain technology's march toward the development sector mainstream, opine on Michael Bloomberg's new role with the World Health Organization, and wonder why, if everyone's talking about "rigorous research," no one is using it?
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
- Tags
- blockchain, research
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Is Ultra Poverty Graduation Working?
The graduation approach centers on creating effective pathways for the ultra-poor living at the bottom of the poverty pyramid. In countries like Bangladesh, India, Ethiopia, Peru, Ghana and Pakistan, studies have documented the approach's impact in causing (yes, causing) broad and lasting economic impacts and improvements in psychosocial well-being.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Education
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Impact Investing Comes of Age: ImpactAlpha Rounds up Nine Stories Shaping the Marketplace
Impact investments represent some of the greatest wealth generating opportunities of our time, from the trillions needed to build a clean global energy grid, to the opportunities in delivering essential services to the emerging middle class. Here are nine recent developments that highlight the sector's growing significance, part of ImpactAlpha's ongoing collaboration with NextBillion.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
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Svadha: ‘The First Step for Households Is to Get a Dignified Toilet and Use It’
Svadha, a sanitation business founded in India in 2013, trains entrepreneurs to sell and help install sanitation and hygiene products, and then support them after the sale. The approach is working: In the past six month the company has doubled its revenue and the number of entrepreneurs in its network, to more than 200.
- Categories
- Health Care
