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From Potential to Market – the Microinsurance Explosion
The new microinsurance compendium, published six years after the initial volume, is an impressive effort of the microinsurance sector to reflect its progress and lessons learned over time. The total number of “risks covered” has increased from just 78 in 2006 to 500 million in 2011, but the story behind that growth is nuanced.
- Categories
- Education
- Tags
- research
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As Contamination Grows, Private Water Shops Spring Up in Pakistani Slums
In Pakistan, waterborne diseases cause 40 percent of illnesses. Outdated and mismanaged city infrastructure poses serious health threats and challenges. Among the colorful storefronts of Lahore’s densely packed slum areas, new water shops have opened up that provide WHO-standard water to the neighborhoods at affordable rates.
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- Agriculture
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At GPF, Finding a Way (or Making One) for Foundations to Impact Invest
Family foundations are often considered the low-hanging fruit of impact investing: their mission-driven philosophies combined with their perceived nimbleness make them ideal candidates to become first movers and concept-provers. However, panelists at the Global Philanthropy Forum discussed the barriers that exist even for them when trying to put their money towards companies that create positive impacts.
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- Uncategorized
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BoP Career Paths: Working with TechnoServe, Coca-Cola and Others Toward Sustainable Development
More than three years have passed since I returned to the U.S., but my work with TechnoServe has had a profound influence on my career path. The organization affirmed my commitment to “Business Solutions to Poverty,” and I have since earned an MBA from Duke University focused on social entrepreneurship and international development.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Education
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NexThought Monday: A New Model for Investment in African Healthcare
Despite rapid growth, healthcare investment in Africa continues to lag well behind other sectors. There is little private investment and/or risk capital available for most of Africa. But according to Onno Schellekens, managing director of the $50 million euro Investment Fund for Health in Africa and co-founder of the Health Insurance Fund and Medical Credit Fund, this can be changed.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Tags
- public health
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Weekly Wrap: On Earth Day, Poverty, in All its Shapes and Sizes
Poverty is everywhere. The state of being impoverished, poverty-stricken, limited or depleted is not exclusive to the bottom of the pyramid, and the bottom of the pyramid is no longer exclusive to the countries we call developing. Poverty is also not exclusive to our species.
- Categories
- Environment
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Guest Post: A Healthy Dose of Idealism – How David Brooks Got it Wrong
New York Times columnist David Brooks recently criticized social entrepreneurs for being too idealistic and out of touch with the realities of politics in developing countries. In response, Echoing Green’s Nidhi Chaudhary says Brooks fundamentally misses the point.
- Categories
- Education, Social Enterprise
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Re-imagining Capitalism: Accounting for Externalities
At the Sankalp Summit 2012 last week in Mumbai, the opening plenary, “Reimaging Capitalism” set the tone for the following two days. The panel talked about the need to ‘reimagine’ capitalism, pushing us to conjure up creative definitions of how markets function and what they can do. What would it take to imagine markets being used as more than just a money-making tool?
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
