Articles by James Militzer
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Friday
January 27
2017Scott Anderson / Kyle Poplin / James Militzer
Social Business Roundup: Scrutinizing a $30M Cookstove Study, the Limits of Silicon Valley and TV from the Sun
A $30 million study looking into using liquified petroleum gas in clean cookstoves has some 'stovers' heated up, why apps won't stop pandemics and why the time may be right for solar TV. It's all in our weekly roundup of social business news.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Health Care, Impact Assessment, Technology
- Tags
- climate health, solar
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Wednesday
January 25
2017A Tale of Four IPOs: Is Public Investment in Microfinance Becoming OK Again?
Initial public offerings have long been a controversial topic in microfinance, and rightly so. The early IPOs of Compartamos and SKS Microfinance made a lot of money for investors and turbocharged the sector's growth, but also sparked hyper commercialization and debt crises that rocked the industry. But last year, two Indian MFIs had successful IPOs that have garnered a much more positive reception. We spoke with Daniel Rozas of the European Microfinance Platform and Anna Kanze of Grassroots Capital Management about how these four offerings differed, and what they could mean for the future of public investment in microfinance, in this podcast.
- Categories
- Investing
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Monday
January 23
2017TODAY at 10:00 AM EST: Twitter Chat on IPOs in Microfinance – Join at #MFICHAT
NextBillion is excited to announce our first-ever Twitter chat, which will take place at 10:00 AM EST on Jan. 30. The topic, Initial Public Offerings in microfinance, tends to inspire heated opinions, so the chat will follow a quasi-debate format, with Anna Kanze of Grassroots Capital Management, Daniel Rozas of the European Microfinance Platform, and Chuck Waterfield, formerly of MicroFinance Transparency, providing contrasting views. You can follow the conversation at #MFICHAT.
- Categories
- Investing
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Friday
January 20
2017Scott Anderson / James Militzer / Kyle Poplin
Social Business Roundup: An SDG Lovefest at Davos, a New Rival for M-Pesa and a Really Big Direct Investment Fund
Has the World Economic Forum in Davos lost its relevance? Not to the folks gathered there this week who were knee-deep in talk about sustainable investing and social enterprise. Those discussions are only the start of a jam-packed Roundup this week. There's also a new mobile platform by MasterCard that could rival M-Pesa in Kenya, plans for a $2 billion direct investment fund, and plenty more ...
- Categories
- Agriculture, Health Care
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Guest Articles
Friday
January 13
2017Kyle Poplin / Scott Anderson / James Militzer
Social Business Roundup: Building Our Immunity to Anti-Vaxxers, Solar Loans With a Side of Health, and SRI Goes Robo
There’s a crisis of trust in the world, some of it well earned – and some, like skepticism about vaccines, completely unwarranted. We cover an alarming uptick in the anti-vax movement's profile, an effort to pair solar loans with health care in Ghana, and the emergence of "robo-SRI" in this news roundup.
- Categories
- Energy, Health Care, Investing, Social Enterprise, Technology
- Tags
- ESG, impact investing, solar, vaccines
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Thursday
January 12
2017Fintech or Die: Five Ways Microfinance Can (and Must) Respond to the Digital Age
MicroSave founder Graham Wright hasn't been shy in criticizing the ways lenders are currently leveraging fintech to serve low-income clients. But his views on its potential in microfinance are far more bullish than this criticism might suggest. "Very soon, if MFIs don't develop a strategy and implement fintech behind that strategy, I think they will simply become irrelevant and slowly but surely shrink and die," he said in this frank video Q&A.
- Categories
- Technology
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Guest Articles
Wednesday
January 11
2017Announcing NextBillion’s 2017 Editorial Calendar and Our First Monthly Theme: Microfinance
It's a new year, and NextBillion is announcing a new approach to showcase our diverse array of content: Each month, along with our regular coverage of the broader social business world, we’ll dedicate special coverage to a specific sector. We're launching the concept this month, with a special focus on microfinance. You can view our full 2017 editorial calendar here.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
- Tags
- microfinance
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Friday
January 6
2017Scott Anderson / Kyle Poplin / James Militzer
Social Business Roundup: A New Leader at Rockefeller, a New Investment in Global Health, and a New Mobile Money Frontrunner in India
When Raj Shah left USAID as its administrator in 2015, he went on to form – not a charity, not an NGO – but a private equity fund, Latitude Capital, which invests power and infrastructure projects in emerging markets. Now that he's been named president of the Rockefeller Foundation, what course will Shah chart? We cover that question, and several other intriguing developments, in our social business roundup.
- Categories
- Health Care, Investing