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Social Entrepreneurship in Egypt: Challenges and Opportunities
High rates of youth unemployment across the Middle East and North Africa were a major catalyst for the Arab Spring revolutions. To help address this, the Development Marketplace is preparing for a country-level competition in Egypt early next year. The proposed DM competition will focus on social entrepreneurs with projects that have a strong impact on creating sustainable job opportunities, especially in the agricultural supply chain sector.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Social Enterprise
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Decentralized, Distributed and Disruptive: The New Diseconomies of Scale
Since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, economies of scale have ruled the day, with massive investments in power plants, pipelines, factories, and transmission lines to name a few. But increasingly, the technologies of tomorrow will be decentralized, distributed in character and disruptive to incumbent firms and institutions.
- Categories
- Environment, Technology
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Mobile Money Payments: Why It’s Time to Move From P2P to Me2Me
Many cite the high cost of electronic transfers as a key market barrier to leveraging mobile money platforms and enabling retail payments or other financial services to the poor. But recently, two leading mobile money providers in Kenya and Tanzania lowered their prices for small-value transfers.
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- Uncategorized
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Mobile Money Payments: Why It’s Time to Move From P2P to Me2Me
Mobile money providers should embrace Me2Me systems, that is, easy-to-use commitment savings platforms that help map how people think about their long-term needs and money. In the customer’s mind, each date would be associated with a purpose, such as paying off school fees, rent, farm equipment or other long-term purchases and expenses.
- Categories
- Technology, Telecommunications
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Beer at the BoP
In Africa, SABMiller’s biggest competitor is the guy (or gal) who makes beer at home. That’s a big reason why the company, which had revenues of $28 billion last year, recently began selling Impala, a beer made from cassava, in Mozambique. Using local like cassava and sorghum crops appeals to local tastes, supports local farmers and keeps costs down so SAB Miller can price its beer lower to compete with homemade brews.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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The Second Wave of Social Entrepreneurs?
I began to realize that the field of social entrepreneurship is becoming more professionalized. First consulting out of undergrad, then a one year stint at an NGO or social enterprise abroad, then B-school, then they land a "job" at an organization in this field. As I observe this shift, there are two things I am thinking about.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
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Scaling Up Impact Investing In China
Tao Zhang, the Chief Operating Officer of New Ventures, WRI’s center for environmental entrepreneurship with local operations in China and five other high growth markets, says given the need for China to create sustainable economic growth over the decades to come, impact investing has an important role to play and should gain traction there.
- Categories
- Environment
- Tags
- impact investing
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Best Ideas of 2011: 2012, the Year of Archimedean Entrepreneurs
Around 200 BC, Archimedes made a formidable dare: "Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it and I shall move the world". Two thousand years later, ‘Archimedean entrepreneurs’ are responding to this mythical challenge, moving Africa beyond the "starving-growth" paradox to address the greatest challenge facing us.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
