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Best Ideas of 2011: Invest in Africa
In Africa today, years of small changes are adding up to potentially big payoffs for the savvy investor. This past year alone saw important gains in good governance and economic growth on the continent, while economic woes continued apace overseas. One of the best ideas of 2011 to gain serious currency can be summarized simply: invest in Africa.
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Best Ideas of 2011: All Signs Point to the Vitality of Sharing
Last year I reported on www.admittingfailure.com, a platform created by Engineers Without Borders Canada and Peace Dividend Trust for individuals to share mistakes or failures encountered in their work with the development community. Although the site hasn’t recorded a large number of failures since it went live, we need more initiatives like it.
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Chasing Gazelles to Achieve Poverty Reduction, Development Goals
Economist David Birch coined the term "gazelle" as private businesses with annual revenue growth of 20% over four years. Such SMEs create the vast majority of new jobs and GDP growth in the U.S. and Europe, but how does this translate into opportunities in emerging markets? A recent IFC memo and forum on harnessing gazelles offers answers.
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- impact investing
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NextBillion is Now Available on Google Currents
Some of you, in fact nearly 2,000 of you as of this writing, have discovered that NextBillion was recently included among the first 180 content providers in the new Google Currents application. For everyone else with an Android phone or tablet, or an iPhone or iPad, we hope you join us by downloading the free Google Currents and subscribing to NB.
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Microfinance Banks to Construct 500 Houses
Microfinance Banks in Lagos, under the auspices of the National Association of Microfinance Banks, Lagos State Chapter, NAMBLAG, have pledged to undertake a micro-housing project that will see them catering for the housing needs of a vast majority of the low income earners in the society. Chairman of the Association, Mr. Olufemi Babajide, in his address to members in the report for the 2010 financial year, said the association plans to build 500 houses for the active poor with flexible ...
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- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Jane Goodall and Affordable Housing
Can we build affordable housing for all in our lifetime? The authors in this series say YES ? but. Old patterns in the housing value chain can’t continue as government action, public policy or business as usual. A new ?housing ecosystem? is needed to catalyze breakthroughs, support cross-sector collaborations and create sustainable solutions.
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- Investing, Uncategorized
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- housing
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TED’s City 2.0 Prize – A Collective Wish ’Big Enough to Change the World’
TIME Magazine today announced its Person of the Year is: "The Protester," representing movements from the Middle East to Occupy Wall Street. The annual TIME story followed TED, which last week announced the winner of its 2012 competition would not be a person, but a concept: THE CITY 2.0 - a call to dream up "a wish big enough to change the world."
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Villgro’s Unconvention 2011: Key Takeways
Unconvention 2011 hosted by Villgro in Chennai, India brought together some of the country’s brightest minds working in social enterprise and explored fundamental questions such as how social businesses can "mainstream" or "co-create" with multinationals, and whether in the term "social enterprise" will have currency in the next decade.
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