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When Economies Turn Down, Entrepreneurs Turn Up: How COVID-19 Has Spurred Nigerian Businesses to Build for an Inclusive Future
The COVID-19 crisis has devastated lives and livelihoods around the world. But as Eloho Omame at Endeavor points out, it has also re-shaped economies in more positive ways, revealing businesses' weak spots, areas for improvement and inefficient processes. She explores the impact this is having on Nigeria’s innovation ecosystem, where entrepreneurs have built or adapted business models that have saved lives, created jobs, and contributed to economic prosperity and the digitization of the economy.
- Categories
- Coronavirus
- Tags
- COVID-19, innovation, scale, startups
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Recovery 2021: Introducing NextBillion’s New COVID-19 Series
For over a year, COVID-19 and its economic fallout have been inescapable facts of life, taking a particularly heavy toll on vulnerable communities – and the businesses that serve them. Now, with a vaccine promising to gradually bring an end to this historic crisis, we anticipate that the conversation around the pandemic will evolve, as impact-focused businesses and development organizations move to a longer-term effort to “build back better.” To highlight these discussions, NextBillion is expanding upon our COVID-19 coverage through a new special series called “Recovery 2021.”
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Social Enterprise
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Ethiopia Sees Jump in Mobile Payments Despite COVID-19
COVID-19 has created many disruptions in Ethiopia this year, impacting both merchants and consumers. The World Health Organization warned that paper currency can risk spreading the virus, and encouraged adoption of digital payments as a safer alternative.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Analysis: How Smallholder Farmers Are Coping With the Pandemic
As smallholder farmers, Hakuzimana says they are faced with countless challenges such as limited market, wastage of produce and limited access to sources of agricultural productivity.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Coronavirus
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Vaccines prevented 37 million deaths in LMICs in the last 20 years
These are the findings of the most comprehensive study of the impact of vaccination programmes yet undertaken, published today in The Lancet.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Health Care
- Tags
- vaccines
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COVID-19 Knocked $200 Million off Remittances Last Year in Uganda
Remittances fell by $200m for the year ended December 2020, highlighting the impact of Covid-19 within and without Uganda.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Report Spotlights Drug Firms’ Supply Chain Initiatives, Hurdles in LMICs
The almost yearly Access to Medicine Index measures the 20 behemoths of the pharmaceutical industry, encapsulating 70% of global pharmaceutical revenues. However, the report doesn't look at the bottom line: It looks at medicine accessibility in low- and middle-income companies (LMICs), and—as with everything in the past year—COVID-19 made its mark, demanding supply chain innovation and collaboration in new ways.
- Categories
- Coronavirus
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Analysis: Has COVID-19 Prompted the Belt and Road Initiative to Go Green?
Following a year of coronavirus-related disruptions, China appears to be placing a greater focus on sustainable, digital and health-related projects in its flagship Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Environment
- Region
- Asia Pacific