Articles by James Militzer
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Friday
March 11
2016Kyle Poplin / James Militzer / Scott Anderson
Weekly Roundup: Obama Chases Bush’s Africa Legacy, Kenya’s Diaspora Leadership and Gray Ghost’s $60M Fund
It’s incongruous to many that the son of a Kenyan is widely perceived to have done less to help Africa than a predecessor best known for putting the U.S. in a bad war and a bad light in so many other places around the globe. Could the President’s Malaria Initiative help change those perceptions?
- Categories
- Health Care
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Saturday
March 5
2016Kiva’s New Fund Targets 1 Million Women Entrepreneurs – But How Much Impact Should We Expect?
Last week, the Inter-American Development Bank and the U.S. State Department joined microfinance pioneer Kiva to launch the Women’s Entrepreneurship Fund. The fund matches the contributions of lenders who respond to a woman entrepreneur’s loan request on Kiva’s online platform, and hopes to crowdfund loans for 1 million entrepreneurs. But in spite of the excitement around the announcement, questions about both Kiva’s approach and the broader microfinance model remain.
- Categories
- Investing
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Friday
February 19
2016Weekly Roundup: The World’s Cheapest Smartphone – Game Changer or Marketing Stunt?
This week we noticed the eye-grabbing headline: A $7 smartphone is launching in India tomorrow. But soon, the scrutiny began. But by far the biggest question about the phone involves its main selling point: its price. Experts estimate that its components alone would cost over eight times its selling price - not counting production, distribution and marketing expenses. Is the Freedom 251 a marketing stunt or legit game changer?
- Categories
- Technology
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Friday
February 12
2016James Militzer / Kyle Poplin / Scott Anderson
Weekly Roundup: India Unfriends Facebook, Zika Shouldn’t be a Games Changer, and #IOT4D
Mark Zuckerberg finally found out “who could possibly be against” Facebook’s plan to offer free internet to the poor, why canceling the Olympic Games in Rio would punish Brazil and our new favorite hashtag #IoT4D.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
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Friday
February 5
2016James Militzer / Scott Anderson / Kyle Poplin
Weekly Roundup: Grading Super Bowl Ads, Teaching Social Entrepreneurship, Fact-Checking Global Health
Three commercials at this Sunday's Super Bowl 50 come from financial services providers focused on customers who can’t afford a ticket to the game. We grade the three ads in terms of how effectively they present the inclusive elements of these companies' brands, discuss a new school for social entrepreneurs, and explore a new fact-checking initiative for global health in this roundup.
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- Education, Health Care
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Friday
January 29
2016Kyle Poplin / Scott Anderson / James Militzer
Weekly Roundup: Zika’s Super Challenge, LeapFrog’s Play, American Express’ Retreat
Our editors discuss three recent developments in the global development/social business space, including a disheartening new global health crisis, some major impact investing news, and a setback in the mainstreaming of the financial inclusion agenda.
- Categories
- Health Care, Investing
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Friday
January 22
2016Kyle Poplin / James Militzer / Scott Anderson
Weekly Roundup: Acumen’s SolarAid Acquisition, Davos Deja Vu , the Grumpy Gates Critics
This week we explore Acumen's purchase of the SolarAide research arm, ruminate on the Davos script and do a little defending of the Gates Foundation.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
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Friday
January 15
2016Scott Anderson / Kyle Poplin / James Militzer
Weekly Roundup: Big Upside of Small Farmers; Using the Bully Pulpit to Fight a Bully; It’s Good to Be Ultra-Rich
What if some of the most marginalized people on the planet – the proverbial “smallholder farmers” with a small plot and an even smaller number of livestock – could command the attention of powerful telecom and technology players? Here’s another question: What if it’s already happening?
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology