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Dalberg’s Call for Survey Participants
Dalberg Global Development Advisors is working with Harvard Business School’s new "Innovation and Entrepreneurship" course to survey leaders of innovative social enterprises on their recipes for success and views about the sector. The survey’s results will help the next generation of social entrepreneurs and bring urgent issues to the attention of policymakers. Leaders who would like to receive the survey should contact Daniel Altman, Dalberg’s director of thought leadership...
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China Reports Dramatic Drop in Rural Poverty
China has reported a dramatic decrease in rural poverty over the last decade. The number of rural citizens living below the national rural poverty line fell from 94.2 million people (10.2% of the rural population) in 2000, to 26.88 million (2.8%) last year, according to figures released Wednesday by China’s State Council. The sharp drop occurred despite the fact the national rural poverty benc...
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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The Spectacular Mobile Phone Revolution in Africa
Mobile phone service is gaining by leaps and bounds in Africa. Indeed, so many Africans have subscribed to wireless service that the continent is now the second-largest market in the world - having supplanted Latin America -- and behind only Asia, the top market. The expansion of mobile phones is likely to revolutionize Africa, a land plagued by poverty, disease, war...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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HBL to Launch Branchless Banking
Islamabad-HBL has inked a Technology Support agreement with Sybase 365, the global leader in mobile messaging and mobile commerce services, and Abacus Consulting, a leading management and technology consultancy firm for the deployment of branchless banking services. Mr. Faiq Sadiq, Head-Payment Services and Mr. Mudassir Khan, Chief Information Officer from HBL, Mr. Mathew Talbot, Senior Vice President, mCommerce and Tarik Husain, Business Development Director, mCommerce from Sybase 365 and Mr...
- Region
- South Asia
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More Health for the Money
Aid from wealthy countries to fight disease and poverty in the developing world has saved countless lives over the past decade. Despite intensified financial efforts toward global health goals, progress seems to be impeded and slow as the 2015 deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goals draws near. A recent study by the OECD Development Assistance Committee ...
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Accel Partners Raises $155M for New India Venture Fund
Accel Partners, which has backed global Internet majors like Facebook and Groupon, has raised a new $155 million venture capital fund that will invest in seed and early-stage investments in India. Accel India III is nearly two-and-a-half times its predecessor, Accel India Venture Fund II, which raised $60 million three years ago. With the inception of the new fund, the assets under management of Accel India will reach $235 million across its three early-stage funds. "The fund has ...
- Region
- South Asia
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Microcredit – Women Demand More Than Incomes
VALLADOLID, Spain, Nov 16, 2011 (IPS) - Microcredit can help a woman to have an income. It can, for better or worse, also transform gender equations in the public and private spheres. Making microfinance more meaningful for women in terms of real empowerment occupies much of the deliberations at the Fifth Global Microcredit Summit underway in this Spanish city. Apparently, not all microcredit institutions (MFIs) are aware of the importance of contribu...
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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?Challenges and Solutions? on Day Two of the Global Microcredit Summit
"What’s the one thing you know for sure about clients of microfinance?" This was the question with which the lead author of a new paper, Anton Simanowitz, began the plenary session on day two of the Global Microcredit Summit 2011. "The answer", he said, "is that at some point, they will suffer a shock beyond what they can cope with; and which is greater than their incomes". How MFIs understanding this fact, face up to it, plan for it, determines whether microfinance has ...
- Region
- Europe & Eurasia