-
Debunking Myths About Products for Africa: Zyomyx develops test for HIV/AIDS treatment with service-free accessory
Zyomyx, a for-profit Silicon Valley biotech firm,has developed a point-of-care CD4 test for HIV/AIDS treatment in Africa that delivers results in less than 10 minutes and will cost less than (U.S.) $10 per test.
- Categories
- Health Care
-
The ABCs of Innovation and Prosperity for the Good of All (Part I)
Now in its third year, the 2013 abc* Continuity Forum is a surprisingly friendly mashup – equal parts star power, investor strength, visionary and ethical leadership and humble, courageous persistence changing communities and nations. It sparks personal connections and contagious enthusiasm for new collaborations to scale good ideas.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
-
The Power of Choices: Applying behavioral economics to financial services – part 1 of our interview with Alexandra Fiorillo, VP at ideas42
If you’re working to alleviate poverty, steering people toward wise financial choices can make a huge difference. That’s why we’re excited to introduce ideas42, a consulting organization that specializes in behavioral economics, as a content partner on NextBillion Financial Innovation. We spoke with their VP Alexandra Fiorillo about how behavioral economics can be used to promote financial inclusion and improve lives at the BoP.
- Categories
- Finance
-
Mobile Health Targets Women: Yet many don’t have mobile phones
Mobile technology can provide maternal care to women across the globe – if more women get cell phones. The problem is phones can be too expensive, and when families can afford only one phone, it most often goes to the husband rather than the wife.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
- Tags
- public health
-
Building the Business Case for Youth Financial Services: UNCDF, MasterCard Foundation provide lessons for financial services providers
Of the 1.2 billion youth in the world, 130 million are out of school, 45 percent live on less than US $2 a day, and 50 percent do not participate in the labor force. Is there a business case for creating financial products for them? YouthStart tested approaches for serving low-income young people in a sustainable manner, and their recent report aims to inform successful long- term strategy for financial service providers.
- Categories
- Education
-
Targeting the Base of the Pyramid at Scale : How can large companies overcome internal barriers?
Over the past few months, we have worked with member representatives and experts toward dissecting one particular area: the internal barriers faced by large companies when they want to scale up inclusive business ventures. But we did not limit ourselves to highlighting problems; rather, we opted to couple each barrier to a set of proven solutions that leading companies in this space have adopted. The result is an issue brief titled Scaling up Inclusive Business – Solutions to overcome internal barriers.
- Categories
- Education, Impact Assessment
-
Beyond Competition: An interview with Grameen Foundation’s Steve Wright
From a traditional business perspective, social enterprise seems to be built upon a contradiction. How can you run a company whose ultimate goal is to foster and empower competitors rather than defeat them? That’s one of the topics discussed by Steve Wright, vice president of Grameen Foundation’s Poverty Tools & Insights division, in this BoP Summit 2013 interview.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Social Enterprise
-
Weeding Out La Roya, the Scourge of Coffee : Behind Root Capital’s $7M initiative to build farmer resilience
Roya is a nightmare for coffee farming families, their communities and the entire region. Experts report massive economic disruption, including the loss of 500,000 coffee-related jobs and approximately $1 billion in lost revenue.The $7 million initiative will allow Root Capital to lend more than $10 million for resilience investments, and provide financial management training, to 50 agricultural enterprises representing 40,000 farmers.
- Categories
- Agriculture
