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A Loan and a Light: One Acre Fund, in partnership with GreenLight Planet, aiming for 100K solar lamps in Kenya this year
In 2011, One Acre Fund began offering cost-saving solar lamps made by Greenlight Planet as an optional add-on to our loan package. In 2014, One Acre Fund delivered 72,900 lamps to farmers in Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. By the end of 2015, we expect to have delivered over 100,000 more.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy
- Tags
- smallholder farmers, solar
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A ‘Small Revolution’ in Ecuador?: The world’s first national e-money platform has reshaped the ecosystem – but will a government-led model work?
In December, the government of Ecuador launched the world’s first state-run e-payment system. The platform addresses the interoperability problem that has plagued the mobile ecosystem in other countries, and it’s affordable to the poor - though questions remain about whether a top-down approach will prove effective. The experiment could have repercussions for other countries in the region.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
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Banks Challenge M-PESA in Kenya: What their emergence could mean for the world’s leading mobile money market
Since its launch in 2007, Safaricom’s M-PESA has dominated Kenya’s mobile money market. However, new data from the Helix Institute of Digital Finance shows that this now seems to be changing, as banks are taking a growing slice of the pie. Helix explores why this could be a positive development for customers – and for the overall market.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
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Disrupting Markets, Building Brands: Achieving scale at the BoP is anything but business as usual
It might be difficult to achieve scale in health care businesses in emerging markets, but it’s possible. Or at least that’s what Amitava Chattopadhyay, the GlaxoSmithKline chaired professor of corporate innovation at INSEAD, says. And he’s got examples to prove it.
- Categories
- Health Care
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Paving the Way Out of Poverty: Health microinsurance can keep a medical emergency from becoming a financial tragedy
Every year, 100 million people around the world fall into poverty due to medical costs. Insurance is playing an increasing role in helping poor households avoid this tragic outcome. Jenny Nasr of the Microinsurance Network profiles a number of promising programs in countries around the world.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Tags
- savings
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NexThought Monday – Needed: A New Kind of Infrastructure: Digital infrastructure must be a priority – and the need goes beyond technology
For decades, the development community has stressed the importance of infrastructure, usually focusing on things like roads and water systems. But to ensure that the benefits of the mobile revolution reach the world’s poor, we now need to consider digital infrastructure as well. And as USAID’s Nandini Harihareswara describes it, this must include more than cell phone towers and Internet cables.
- Categories
- Technology
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Twitter Top Ten
Unlike in the world of global soccer, this week in global development was marked by a fair amount of positive news. We captured some of it in this week’s Top Ten list, which features everything from mobile money momentum and impact investing resources, to promising health care innovations - along with a couple of cool videos.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Health Care, Technology
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Weekly Roundup: Fewer hungry people, a lot more patents and a spotlight on the whiteness of NGOs
A bit of good news floated across the news wires this week: The number of hungry people in the world has dropped dramatically. Considering the drop in hunger, perhaps it’s not a coincidence that as a globe, we never been more inventive, according to a surge in patents.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Health Care, Technology
