Articles by Rob Katz
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Monday
April 17
2006Microcredit: More Harm Than Good?
Thomas Dichter, a returned Peace Corps volunteer and development consultant to USAID and the World Bank, has written what Alex aptly calls a ?provocative and controversial essay?in which he claims that microcredit is not nearly as good a tool as it’s made out to be, and that what the...
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Friday
April 14
2006Is Base of the Pyramid Mainstream? Two Sites Suggest Yes
Sara?s recent post about the mainstreaming of green investment got me thinking about the mainstreaming of base of the pyramid (BOP) trends. Is it fair to use that word for such a niche hypothesis? Two projects, both with new web sites, suggest that it may be. Enterprise for a...
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Monday
April 10
2006Harvesting Sustainable Practices in the Egyptian Desert
Friends often ask me how profit can co-exist with good social and environmental practices, especially at the BOP. After all, we have a hard enough time here in the so-called ?advanced? economy of the United States doing it ? with the compound pressure of poverty, won?t social and...
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Friday
March 31
2006NextBillion Now Recruiting Interns
Editor’s note: We encourage anyone holding a bachelor’s degree or who will be earning their B.A. or B.S. in the next few months to apply. The application period for NextBillion.net’s internship will end soon! (Updated 12 April 2006)Interested in working in the BOP realm but not sure how to...
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Tuesday
March 28
2006Innovations: From Base to Top, A Must-Read
From the Base (of the Pyramid) to the Top (of the Ivory Tower)Rarely do I get excited about academic journals. They conjure up memories of researching my undergrad political economy thesis (on political conditionality and microfinance). So when the inaugural issue of Innovations crossed my...
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Wednesday
March 22
2006Financial Services for the BOP? The Ring Tone Tolls for Thee
Recent news stories in the New York Times, Red Herring, the Economist, and others note new features that allow cellular phones to serve as mobile wallets. While no article has said so explicitly, the potential application to BOP markets is huge. Cell phones are cheaper, hardier, and more...
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Thursday
March 2
2006Safe Water for Indian Slums? Let It (Cash) Flow
The Acumen Fund Blog today reports a new for-profit water services project launched in one of India’s poorest urban neighborhoods. The provider, Heritage, receives strategic management support and assistance raising capital from the Acumen Fund. I am excited to hear companies saying that "...
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Wednesday
March 1
2006Acumen Fund Launches Blog
We?ve talked about Acumen Fund before here at NextBillion ? the non-profit venture fund that supports BOP enterprises delivering critical goods and services to the world?s low-income communities through investments. Like us, they too believe in using entrepreneurial, private-sector...
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