-
Rwandan Female Entrepreneur on Course to Raise $490,000 in Funding
With 70,000 serviced daily via its safe water mini-grids, WARwanda is setting high ambitions to service over 30 million people in the next 10 years and create over 13,000 jobs, greatly multiplying its current reach.
- Categories
- Environment, Social Enterprise
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
Viewpoint: Beyond Grants and Impact Investments, There’s a Growing Interest in Africa
As at 2014, the UNDP estimated that at least $8 billion had come into Africa via impact investment. Yet, there’s still a huge gap of $100 billion annually needed to support Africa’s much needed growth.
- Categories
- Investing, Social Enterprise
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- impact investing, scale
-
Press Release: U.S. Government’s Power Madagascar to Bring Electricity to 5,200 Rural Homes and Businesses
The United States Government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Power Africa initiative, has awarded three companies in Madagascar a combined $1.2 million in grant funding to develop mini-grids that will bring electricity to more than 5,200 rural homes and businesses. These grants are part of the U.S. Government’s $3 million effort to increase energy production and electricity access in Madagascar.
- Categories
- Energy, Investing, Social Enterprise
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- energy access, solar
-
How GoDaddy is Boosting Digital Skills Development in India
The brand is helping small businesses from tier-2 & 3 cities to grow online.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise, Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
-
Taking Control of the Value for Money Narrative: How Innovative Metrics Are Making Impact Part of the Financial Equation
The nonprofit VisionSpring—which provides affordable, high-quality eyeglasses to base of the pyramid customers—realized it needed a metric that could balance cost and impact, while keeping its target customers at the center of decision-making. Analysts at CASE and SoJo discuss the value of the “programmatic value for money metric” VisionSpring implemented, and explore how this type of metric can help organizations consider trade-offs between cost and impact.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing, Social Enterprise
-
Digital Access Matters: The Benefits of Bringing High-Speed Internet To Low-Income Communities During COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has led people around the world to work and shop from home – but as Dirk-Jan Koeman and Kara Ing at Poa Internet point out, this is easier for some than others. For instance, in densely-populated urban areas in Kenya, the lack of high-speed internet makes working from home almost impossible. They discuss how Poa is bringing these households online, and share research on how these newly connected customers are using the internet.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Social Enterprise, Technology, Telecommunications, Transportation
-
How Should We Measure Impact? We Asked Our Investees.
Ceniarth describes itself as an "impact-first investor," but as senior impact manager Julia Mensink points out, even with its commitment and resources, it has found that there is no simple solution to measuring impact well. She explores what Ceniarth learned by asking all its investees how they measure impact, and shares key insights which may be useful to other investors looking to deepen their impact measurement practices.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing, Social Enterprise, Technology
-
Bringing Refugee Camps Out of the Dark: An Entrepreneur-Driven Solution To Clean Energy for the World’s Most Vulnerable Communities
There are almost 80 million forcibly displaced people worldwide – and among refugees living in rural settlements, 90% have very limited access to electricity. Sofia Ollvid at SolarAid discusses its innovative collaboration in Malawi's Dzaleka refugee camp, which mobilizes the support of refugee entrepreneurs to bring solar lighting to a population that's been living in the dark.
- Categories
- Energy, Social Enterprise
- Tags
- climate health, renewable energy, SDGs, solar
Subscribe to Our Weekly Newsletter, "NextBillion Notes"
Published each Wednesday, our e-newsletter features NextBillion's latest original articles, along with a selection of news, jobs, bizdev opportunities and events from our recent coverage — and regular conference ticket giveaways.
We respect your privacy. Your information is safe and will never be shared.
Don't miss out. Subscribe today.