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Finding Opportunity in a Crisis: How Hatch Technologies Started a New Medical Device Venture During a Global Pandemic
In July 2020, the global COVID-19 pandemic was spreading aggressively across Africa. That's the same month Hatch Technologies, a nonprofit supporting newborn medical device distribution and services in sub-Saharan Africa, launched its operations. Dick Oranja, Hatch's executive director, discusses the challenges of starting a new venture during one of the most financially and logistically demanding times the world has experienced – and explores why the pandemic proved to be a surprisingly opportune time to launch.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Health Care
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Curbing Deforestation in Sub-Saharan Africa: Why Woodfuel Alternatives Are a Key Sustainable Solution
Deforestation is rampant in sub-Saharan Africa – the only region where the pace of forest loss has increased in each of the last three decades. According to Ian Otula and Aaron Pattillo of Vuma Biofuels and Wassa N’Gandjo Cisse of the BESTSELLER Foundation, the root cause of this crisis is the fact that woodfuels provide over 80% of the region's energy, and there's an alarming imbalance between supply and demand. They explore how woodfuel substitutes can offer a solution to this issue – and how Vuma Biofuels is leveraging these sustainable fuel sources to address a key driver of deforestation in Kenya: the tea industry.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment
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It’s Time for More Open Source in Energy Access. Here’s Why.
What needs to happen to achieve global access to energy by 2030? Tamara Mahoney of EnAccess spent several years talking to energy access innovators about the best way to move the sector forward, and a common viewpoint emerged from those conversations: An open-source approach is necessary to achieve universal energy access. She explains why this model is both effective and inevitable, and discusses EnAccess' efforts to support new technologies, business models and knowledge in energy access by funding and sharing open-source tools and innovations.
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- Energy, Entrepreneurship
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Four Insights for Better Measurement: What Businesses Can Learn from the Public and Nonprofit Sectors
In the public and nonprofit sectors, comprehensive monitoring, evaluation and learning approaches are increasingly common – but many small and growing businesses (SGBs) lack the time and resources for these practices. Heather Esper, director of the Performance Measurement and Improvement team at the William Davidson Institute, shares four key data collection and measurement insights from the public and nonprofit worlds that businesses — particularly SGBs — can leverage to improve their decision-making and maximize the social and financial value of their data.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Impact Assessment
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From Local Manufacturing to Digital Tech: How African Organizations are Pivoting to Support Maternal and Child Health During COVID-19
There have been substantial improvements in maternal and child health in sub-Saharan Africa over the last two decades, but the COVID-19 pandemic has put these gains at risk, as both maternal and perinatal outcomes are worsening in countries across the continent. Shraddha Kothari of Intellecap details how some organizations have adapted to respond to these challenges, exploring how they're using technology-based solutions, local manufacturing and innovative partnerships to prevent further deterioration of maternal and child health outcomes in the region.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Health Care
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The Pandemic is Not Over for Social Enterprises: Here’s How Impact Investors and Other Funders Can Help Them Survive COVID-19
Social enterprises are developing innovative, sustainable and scalable solutions to the world's deepest economic and social issues, but many of these businesses are at risk of disappearing due to COVID-19. According to Alethia Kang at Acceso and Luke Seidle at Kiva, impact investors and other funders must step up to keep the social enterprise field afloat. They share five steps funders can take to bolster these businesses, and discuss how the partnership between their two organizations illustrates the value of flexible funding support during a crisis.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Coronavirus, Entrepreneurship, Investing
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How to Solve Clean Cooking for 4 Billion People: The Disruptive Potential of the ‘Impact Flywheel’
Roughly 4 billion people lack access to clean cooking technology. This leads to almost four million annual deaths, particularly among women and girls, and costs the global economy approximately $2.4 trillion each year. But though these challenges have persisted despite many high-profile efforts to address them, Ben Jeffreys of ATEC* International argues that clean cooking is uniquely solvable with the right technology and business models. He discusses how the flywheel model could unlock the disruptive potential of clean cooking technologies to create sustainable change.
- Categories
- Energy, Entrepreneurship
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Under-Skilled and Outdated: Why India Could Lose Out on Nearly $1 Trillion in GDP if it Fails to Upskill its SMEs
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for around $700 billion – roughly 27% – of India’s $2.6 trillion gross domestic product. But impressive as those numbers sound, Samir Sathe at Wadhwani Foundation points out that they're nowhere near the 40% of GDP that policymakers hope SMEs will generate in the coming years. He explains why India could lose out on around $0.75 trillion in SME contributions to GDP by 2027 if it fails to prioritize and fund skill development efforts, and discusses what the public and private sectors can do to train entrepreneurs more effectively.
- Categories
- Education, Entrepreneurship
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