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Announcing NextBillion’s Latest E-book (and the first from NextBillion Financial Innovation): A compilation of posts and videos from our Impact Investing Insights series
In the spring of 2014, NextBillion Financial Innovation videotaped interviews with 11 top investors, academics and advocates working in impact investing. We published the Q&As in a series called Impact Investing Insights. We have compiled the posts and videos into this e-book, which covers a broad cross-section of the topics and trends that drive the sector today.
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- Investing, Social Enterprise
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A Delicate Balance for Ruby Cup: Improving public health, keeping girls in school through menstrual hygiene management
The Ruby Cup represents a low-cost, sustainable solution to the problem of menstrual hygiene management in the developing world. But the company that makes the cups found profitability only after shifting focus and changing its target market from the BoP to high-end customers and a buy-one/give-one business model.
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- Education, Health Care
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NexThought Monday – Five Reasons Why BoP Impact Assessments are Good for Business: Companies overlook risks and miss opportunities when they don’t assess human rights impacts
Irit Tamir and Mara Bolis of Oxfam America’s Private Sector Department offer a counterpoint to the argument that impact assessments, while helpful for nonprofits, often inhibit progress in businesses hoping to sell products and services to low-income people.
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- Impact Assessment
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Twitter Top Ten 1-18-15: Some of our favorited Tweets of the past week
The Twitter universe is back in full swing after the holidays, and so is our crack Twitter search team here at NextBillion. We looked high and low for the top tweets of the week.
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- Uncategorized
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Roundup 1/17/15 – Superman, Robin Hood and Stock Trading: Should the U.S. impose a financial transaction tax?
In the film Superman III, a computer programmer embezzles huge sums from his employer’s payroll by diverting small amounts from each check into his account. Unbeknownst to many, high frequency stock traders in the U.S. and other countries use a similar technique - legally. But if Congress passes a recent proposal for a financial transaction tax, the practice would end. We discuss the implications in this Roundup.
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- Impact Assessment
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Should Corporations Promote Development?: When sugary snacks and alcohol are involved, debates of health vs. paternalism abound
A business strategy that is solely focused on profits is not always unethical or bad. But there are many examples of companies entering BoP markets that leave communities worse off or, at best, do not benefit consumers.
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- Health Care
- Tags
- corporations, nutrition
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Serving SMEs in a Tough Neighborhood: Part two of our Q&A with the CEO and Managing Director of the Middle East Investment Initiative
The Middle East Investment Initiative is a U.S.-based non-profit whose mission is to develop innovative finance tools for SMEs in the Middle East and North Africa, including the Palestinian Territories. Its CEO and Managing Director discuss the challenges it faces - from attitudes toward women to political instability - working in this volatile region.
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- Uncategorized
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Peace Through Finance?: How the Middle East Investment Initiative uses financial tools to help a troubled region
It often seems like a unique set of religious and tribal conflicts are responsible for the Middle East’s problems. But they’re also driven in part by a more universal concern: a weak economy. That’s why the Middle East Investment Initiative is delivering finance and technical assistance that stimulate sustainable economic growth in the region. We discuss this approach with the organization’s CEO and Managing Director in part 1 of this Q&A.
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- Uncategorized
