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The world’s first solar-powered refugee camp
As part of its Brighter Lives for Refugees campaign, the IKEA Foundation began offering solar lamps to residents in Azraq, which became essential for everything from cooking and studying, to safe access to water and sanitation.
Yet the lamps, though essential, only illuminated the broader challenge of life without a consistent power grid.- Categories
- Energy, Environment
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
- Tags
- refugees, renewable energy, solar
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SPRING announces 19 startups joining East Africa cohort
Disrupt Africa reported in 2015, SPRING launched its inaugural program in East Africa, focused on supporting startups improving the lives of adolescent girls living in poverty. 18 startups were selected to join the first cohort, receiving an average of US$80,000 each. A second program was conducted in Asia.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Individuals and institutions split on benefits of ESG investing: survey
Individuals believe the environmental, social, and ethical records of the companies they invest in are important, said Natixis, while professionals at institutions and within “the investment community” were more skeptical about the efficacy of these strategies, for example having concerns about performance measurement.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- ESG, impact investing
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Making Microcredit Charities Better
While supporting women entrepreneurs is commendable, no data suggest that lending to women—or men, for that matter—is a miracle poverty cure. That’s primarily because lenders commonly charge the poor about 25% for loans. Six randomized studies of microlending programs from 2003 to 2012, published in the American Economic Journal, found no correlation with improved welfare. Although the loans can be helpful in some situations, there’s no evidence of a transformational effect.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
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The truth is finally starting to emerge about socially responsible investing
"The ESG performance of companies appears to be something that can be used to generate value in a portfolio; traditional exclusion can be a drag," Hale said.
- Categories
- Investing
- Tags
- ESG, impact investing
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OPINION: Embrace change to transform healthcare supply chains
Our shared history shows just how powerful a culture that embraces change can be.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Tags
- supply chains
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These Indian Entrepreneurs Upcycle Religious Flowers Into Useful Products
Because the flowers have been used for worship, they’re sacred, and therefore can’t be just sent to landfill, explains Ankit Agarwal, an Indian entrepreneur. Hindu temples often throw the spent flowers into the River Ganges, a venerated waterway. But this just exacerbates the Ganges’s legendary pollution: The flowers are sprayed with pesticides and other chemicals that leach into the environment.
- Categories
- Environment
- Region
- South Asia
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Why mPesa will not be an instant hit in Nigeria
Having since expanded to 10 additional countries within and outside (Albania, Romania, Afghanistan and India) the African continent, mPesa has grown to a platform with over 29.5 million active customers and 287,400 agents. In 2016 alone, it processed about 6 billion transactions, at a peak rate of 529 transactions per second.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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