NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Indonesia?s Green Prosperity

On November 19, 2011, in Bali, Indonesia, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed a new partnership agreement with the Government of Indonesia providing more than $600 million of U.S. aid through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). More than half of these investments are dedicated to "green prosperity"-the sound idea that sustainable natural resource management and clean energy technologies accelerate economic growth and poverty alleviation. What does this mean in practical te...

Source

Brookings (link opens in a new window)

Region

Asia Pacific

More Optimism Here Than in Developed World

New Delhi: David Calhoun, chief executive officer of leading global information and measurement company Nielsen Holdings NV, believes overseas clients could learn from the innovations of Indian marketers for bottom-of-the-pyramid consumers. The former vice-chairman of General Electric Co. (GE), who surprised many when he moved to Nielsen in 2006, was in India to attend a consumer summit organized by the research firm. Nielsen, owned by a group of private equity firms, including ...

Source

livemint.com (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Microfinance Works – For the Rich

VALLADOLID, Spain, Nov 18 (IPS) - Jesús Guerra, a volunteer at this week’s Fifth Global Microcredit Summit in this Spanish town, was nonplussed by the expensive gold watch sported by a banker from a developing country. "When I volunteered to help at the Summit I thought this was different," Guerra told IPS. "I believed that everybody who worked in microfinance wanted to end social injustices, but here I am listening to a lot of people saying that the goal i...

Source

International.to (link opens in a new window)

Region

Europe & Eurasia

Billionaire Salinas Seeks U.S. Entry to Target ?Unbanked?

Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Ricardo Salinas, the Mexican billionaire whose banking and retail empire spans eight countries, is looking to bring his microlending business to the U.S. to capitalize on the opportunity with low-income customers. Grupo Elektra SA seeks clients at the "bottom of the pyramid" in terms of income and assets, and U.S. households with less than $25,000 in annual income fit that profile, Salinas said today in an interview at Bloomberg’s headquarters in New York. He ...

Source

Bloomberg Businessweek (link opens in a new window)

The South African ’Wonderbag’ Soon to be UNFCCC Accredited

A South African project that initially attempted to tackle poverty has shown potential to mitigate the effects of climate change and is expanding beyond the country’s borders. By Kemantha Govender, BuaNews The Wonderbag project - a recyclable, insulated ’cooker’ - focuses on developing countries and communities with high poverty, shortage of fuel supplies, high i...

Source

HEDON (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

19-Year-Old Vows To Disrupt Solar Industry

Canada’s Eden Full is just 19 years-old. But she’s known since she was three years-old that she’s wanted to be a scientist - of some sort. It wasn’t until she entered into a science competition at nine years-old and built her first solar car that she realized the potential for solar, particularly in areas around the world that remain without electricity. Just 10 years later, in 2010, Full succeeded in providing electricity, for the first time, to two villages in Kenya through ...

Source

Forbes (link opens in a new window)

Invest in Women

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (MarketWatch) - In the developing world, women have a critical stake in survival. And it turns out that investing in women is a good bet for a number of reasons. "We know that women are critical to economic growth and community stability," the organization Business for Social Responsibility says in a report, Investing in Women’s Economic Empowerment. "Research has also shown that women earning an income are more likely than men to invest in the education, nutrit...

Source

MarketWatch (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Omidyar Network Empowers Underbanked With Investment in Financial Services Innovator Mango

Omidyar Network today announced it has invested in Mango Financial, a leader in providing innovative financial solutions to underbanked individuals in the United States. The investment in Mango is part of the impact investing firm’s focus on supporting innovative financial services solutions that empower underserved U.S. consumers. Financial terms of the investment were not disclosed. Mango offers a s...

Source

The Sacramento Bee (link opens in a new window)