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Facebook Live from SOCAP
NextBillion will broadcast a series of interviews from SOCAP16 through Facebook Live, starting later today and continuing throughout the conference. Join us!
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
- Tags
- impact investing
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Five Imperatives to Help Address the Challenges of Sustainable Rural Economic Development
More than two-thirds of the populations in the least-developed countries live and work in rural areas, where the proportion of people living below the poverty line is generally double that of urban areas. That makes the development of rural economies critical for poor countries to meet their sustainable development goals. Peter Harlock of VisionFund lays out five imperatives to optimise that development.
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- Uncategorized
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What We’re Learning Every Step of the Energy Ladder
We spent the last year at Acumen collecting impact data on companies across our portfolio using our Lean Data approach, which harnesses the power of technology to give voice to low-income customers and allows us to provide quality customer feedback to drive business decisions for our investees. From these surveys, our entrepreneurs will get real insight into their customers: who they are, how and where they utilize energy, how much energy they use, and what they spend on a weekly or monthly basis, among other valuable feedback.
- Categories
- Energy, Impact Assessment, Technology
- Tags
- renewable energy, solar
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The AgTech Pedestal Problem: How to Bring Innovation Down to Earth
Without the knowledge to operate it and systems to maintain it, technology is a liability rather than an asset to a farmer. It cannot work in isolation. We must be careful not to place AgTech on a pedestal; AgTech can only be successful if it is grounded in the realities of the developing world farmer. But we're already seeing several examples of that emerging from "Silicon Plateau."
- Categories
- Agriculture, Social Enterprise, Technology
- Tags
- research
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Marshaling Digital Cash for Humanitarian Challenges: Uniting Private, Public and Nonprofit
In addressing humanitarian crises, what unites us—a desire to save and improve lives—is greater than what divides us—outdated perceptions of the roles of aid vs. the private sector. By recognizing this, we can use digital preparedness to set building blocks on the road to resilience.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
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A Bridge Too Far? Bridge International Academies Responds to Ugandan Government’s Allegations and Closure Plans
The Ugandan government recently announced plans to close Bridge International Academies, the celebrated for-profit school company operating in Africa. Uganda's education minister claims that the schools “showed poor hygiene and sanitation which put the life and safety of the school children in danger.” Bridge vehemently denies these charges, and we talked to the company about where things stand.
- Categories
- Education, Social Enterprise
- Tags
- regulations
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A Demographic Time Bomb: The Urgent Need to Prepare Undocumented Hispanic Immigrants for Retirement
The United States is home to some 11.3 million undocumented immigrants, mostly Latin American. These immigrants are aging, and whether they stay in the U.S. or return to their home countries, many are woefully underprepared for the financial burdens of retirement. The consequences of ignoring their retirement savings needs are significant – but so are the opportunities to reach them with financial products.
- Categories
- Investing
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From Dunkin’ Donuts to Farm Seeds: Discovering the Promise of Social Franchising
What if the power of the franchise model was turned into a tool for solving developing world problems such as lack of access to clean water, modern energy sources, pharmaceutical medicines or agricultural inputs and know-how? We can learn a lot from mega-franchises like Dunkin' Donuts when it comes to building micro-franchises.
- Categories
- Agriculture
