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NexThought Monday: Africa’s Entrepreneurial Hot-Spot
Nigeria is blessed with major oil reserves, and a petrochemical industry drives the economy. Still, more than 50 percent of Nigerians live below the international poverty line of $2 a day. In rural areas, it’s closer to 70 or 80 percent. Despite this environment (and indeed, in part because of it), Lagos is an entrepreneurial hotspot.
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- Agriculture
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Housing Series: The Case for Bundling Housing Finance With Housing Support Services
Studies suggest that between 20 to 30 percent of microfinance institution (MFI) clients use portions of their small business start-up or production loans for housing improvements. While MFIs see this as "leakage" for non-productive activities, "productive housing" should be viewed as both a livelihood strategy as well as asset creation.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Tags
- housing, microfinance
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Guest Post: Is it Immoral to Earn Attractive Profits from Poor Customers?
Should we crafting a be a business system that enhances the livelihoods of poor people without making a profit for outside investors? Or should it make a profit for investors as well as the poor people who are served by it? To me the answer is obvious.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
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What the 1 Percent (of Capital Markets) Could Do for Impact Investing
How can we unlock new sources of capital from retail investment to ensure impact investment opportunities aren?t just for the wealthy? A new book discusses ?widening the doorway? to create a greater pool of private capital for impact. Meanwhile investment group TriLinc is launching a $1.25 billion fund for ?mainstreet? investors.
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- Social Enterprise
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Housing Series: The Case for Housing Support Services
Access to finance and secure tenure has been shown to be the most effective catalysts for self-help incremental housing improvements. But while they are essential, even together, they are not sufficient to improve the living conditions for many of the world’s low-income populations.
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- Finance
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SELCO: A Business, Ongoing Case Study in Solar-Powered Social Impact
SELCO, a social enterprise traditionally focused on providing solar energy to the rural underserved, has launched a new urban model in India that has helped electrify a set of slum-dwelling households in Bangalore. The early success has been less about the feat of solar power in slums, and more about creating a ripple effect for social impact.
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- Energy, Impact Assessment
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Wedding Bells? A Matchmaking Business Model for Franchise Networks, National Insurance Plans
Franchising private clinics is an exciting approach for improving the quality and affordability of private health services delivered to the poor. A marriage of national health insurance and franchise networks would offer a new vision for health systems in developing countries, in a sustainable model that could dramatically expand access.
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- Health Care
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Citizen Media: A Global Innovation Competition Produces a New Class of Media Solutions for Empowered
In the past year, there has been a surge in the number of everyday citizens harnessing innovations in media to amplify their voices and create change around the world. When Ashoka Changemakers launched the Citizen Media competition with support from Google, more than 400 entries poured in from around the globe. There’s still time to vote!
- Categories
- Technology
