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Announcing NextBillion’s Most Influential Articles of 2022: Vote for Your Favorite!
It's time for NextBillion's “Most Influential Article of the Year” contest, in which we select our 12 most-read articles from the past year and invite readers to choose their favorites. We welcome you to read the articles and to vote by scrolling down to the voting app at the bottom of this announcement — or at the individual articles in the contest, which are linked in this announcement and posted on our homepage. You can vote up to one time per hour during the voting period, which will run from Dec. 21 to Jan. 3. We wish you a happy holiday season and a prosperous new year!
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- Agriculture, Coronavirus, Energy, Environment, Finance, Impact Assessment, Investing, Social Enterprise, Technology
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Fewer ‘Heropreneurs,’ More Heroic Women: Grameen Foundation’s New CEO Discusses Her Vision for the Organization – And the Broader Financial Inclusion Sector
When Zubaida Bai was announced as the new CEO of Grameen Foundation last month, she says the news was often met with two reactions: “Wow, is Muhammed Yunus your hero, too?” and “Oh, Grameen Foundation — they do microfinance, right?” As Bai writes, these reactions highlighted some common misunderstandings about Yunus and Grameen Foundation — and about the real heroes behind anti-poverty work. She explores these misconceptions, and shares her vision for Grameen Foundation and the financial inclusion sector.
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- Finance, Social Enterprise
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Taking a Virtual Trip to the Last Mile: How an Innovative Program is Harnessing Virtual Reality to Advance Progress Toward the SDGs
Boosted by growing internet access and fueled by the pandemic, the virtual reality (VR) market has become the fastest-growing media segment, projected to reach US $185 billion by 2026. According to Julia Winterflood at Kopernik, the immersive nature of VR makes it uniquely suited to raising awareness of social challenges, and the technology is finding applications in the global development sector. She explores how Kopernik is leveraging virtual reality videos to document challenges faced by underserved communities and accelerate progress toward the SDGs.
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- Social Enterprise, Technology, Telecommunications
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The Link Between WASH and ROI: New Research Shows How Investing in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Benefits Both Employees and the Bottom Line
There are clear links between water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and workplace productivity: WASH facilities improve worker health and wellbeing, boosting productivity and business performance. But as Kelly Parsons at WaterAid America explains, there has been a lack of research on how much WASH interventions really impact the bottom line of businesses in emerging markets. She shares results from a new WaterAid report that assessed the ROI of WASH investments at several businesses in India, Bangladesh, Kenya and Tanzania, and discusses how to maximize the impact of these interventions.
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From Grameen Bank to Global Scale: The New Edition of a Classic Book Highlights the Hard Truth – And Enduring Value – Behind Microfinance
In 1996, Grameen Foundation founder Alex Counts published “Small Loans, Big Dreams,” a well-regarded account of the origins and early years of the microfinance sector. Counts recently published a new edition of the book, which reflects on the ongoing evolution of the industry, and responds to critics who have questioned its role in international development. Longtime microfinance leader and analyst Elisabeth Rhyne discusses the book, and explores what these new updates tell us about the current state of the global microfinance sector.
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- Finance
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Access, Understanding and Trust: Breaking Down the Barriers to Women’s Participation in India’s Digital Finance Revolution
The digital gender divide has long occupied international development headlines, as gaps remain between men and women in both access to and usage of digital technologies in many emerging economies. According to Anant Nyshadham at Good Business Lab, Shalin Gor and Divya Nair, and Emily Coppel at IDinsight, India is no exception. They explore the three types of obstacles that are preventing Indian women from participating in digital financial services, and share some implications for providers of these services.
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- Finance, Technology, Telecommunications
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Unleashing Women Entrepreneurs by Challenging Gender Norms: An Innovative Approach to Changing Beliefs Around Household Chores
Globally, women and girls are responsible for three-quarters of unpaid care work, due to the still-common belief that a woman’s role in society is to take care of the home. As Trisha Clauson at Bopinc and Annegien Langedijk-Wilms at Growing Initiatives explain, this is preventing countless women entrepreneurs from building their businesses, reducing emerging markets' GDP by trillions of dollars. They explore an innovative program that leveraged mass media to foster more equitable gender norms around household chores in Nigeria, sharing learnings that can be used by other organizations supporting women entrepreneurs.
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- Social Enterprise
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Leaning into Resilience: Three Ways Small and Growing Agriculture Businesses Have Navigated Global Crises – And How Investors Can Support Them
COVID-19 and other recent crises have led many investors to pause disbursements to small and growing businesses (SGBs) in emerging markets, due to the increased risk. Camilla Nestor, Maria Raurell and Carolyn Han at MCE Social Capital explain why MCE did the opposite, supporting their investees' efforts to adapt to these challenges. They share three adaptations that successful SGBs in their portfolio had in common, and explore how these approaches are likely to be incorporated into agricultural SGB business models in the long term.
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- Agriculture, Investing
