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’One for One’ … Win for Win
The TOMS Shoes model has been lauded for its simple, marketable mission whereby for every pair of shoes purchased by a consumer in the West, a pair of shoes is donated to a child in need. But there is another One for One working to serve the BoP now - only instead of shoes, this organization is selling solar kits and water bottles.
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Financial Inclusion: Banking in the Amazon (With Video)
Autazes, a municipality in Brazil’s Amazon region, did not have a single point of access to banking services until 2002, when an agent set up operations there. Since then, Autazes has experienced significant economic and social changes, as the local population has access to government payments and other banking services for the first time.
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Frugal Innovation: The Case of Zari
Frugal innovation in most developing countries ensures that locally sourced materials/produced goods will be in higher demand, which in some cases open up interesting new business opportunities. One such opportunity is adapting age-old (and extremely low-cost) Indian embroidery techniques for high-tech vision treatments.
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Investing Without Borders: Impact Investing and the New Indicators for FDI
There are many institutional factors that affect foreign direct investment and many are captured in the World Bank’s new Investing Across Borders (IAB) indicators. The IAB indicators cover 87 countries, incorporating survey data from 2,350 lawyers, accountants, consultants and other experts with practical knowledge of FDI deals in their countries.
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For Brazil’s ’ItsNoon’ It’s Always Time to Collaborate
ItsNoon, named for the time of day when the sun is shining brightest, was created as a social network between the top and the base of the pyramid to solve social problems and generate income, education and knowledge. It starts with a corporation, university, NGO or government posing a question to BoP users, who are paid a fee for solutions.
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Majority of Microfinance Beneficiaries are Women
AMMAN - Vast majority of loans for micro projects in Jordan were extended to female entrepreneurs over the past few years, a recent study showed Sunday. According to the Arab Microfinance Regional Report, launched yesterday, women borrowers for micro projects represented over 70 per cent of total people who had access to micro credit facilities. Experts from lending institutions expected the trend of funding schemes run mainly by women to continue in the coming years. During...
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- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Jeffery Sachs, Video Games and Social Change
Sachs recently discussed rapid economic convergence, or the ability of developing countries to narrow the income gap by absorbing technologies available from developed countries. Some have suggested that video gamers, who simulate life experiences while honing decision-making, could constitute a major untapped resource to assist in that mission.
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Creation Investments Closes Global MFI Fund at $32M
Creation Investments Social Ventures Fund I, a global microfinance-focused private equity fund, has made a final close at $31.8 million. The fund is now eyeing investments in Asia, besides Latin America and Eastern Europe. The Fund’s investor base includes 74 US and European institutional investors along with family offices and high net worth individuals. Creation Investments Capital Management, LLC, is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The fund has till date deployed half of this...
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- microfinance
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